GBC unveils programmes for political parties

27/02/08
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) yesterday unveiled a number of programmes to help political parties contesting the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections to sell their programmes and manifestos on its radio and television stations.
At a ceremony to launch the programme details, representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) and the United Love Party (ULP) were all given the guidelines for the various activities and assured of fair coverage.
The activities to be covered by Ghana Television (GTV) and Radio Ghana include national and regional rallies and a proposed presidential debate.
Political parties will also participate in Talking Point, Breakfast Shows and Adult Education on GTV.
The corporation has also proposed a ‘Face the Nation’ concept during which leading party members will face between four and six journalists to answer questions based on their manifestos and other national issues.
Consequently, GBC has constituted a five-member Political Broadcast Monitoring and Complaints Committee, chaired by a veteran broadcast journalist, Mr Akuamoah Boateng, to monitor and address complaints from political parties.
The Director-General of GBC, Mr William Ampem Darko, said the introduction of the guidelines was an attempt to put GBC’s network “to use so that the political parties can mount effective campaigns”.
He said the committee was to monitor the coverage and receive complaints from political parties and asked the various parties to lodge their complaints with the committee for redress.
Mr Ampem Darko gave the assurance that GBC would give fair coverage to all political parties and asked the parties to avoid creating unnecessary tension and sensationalism.
He said GBC would announce election results certified by the Electoral Commission (EC) but indicated that his outfit would not give accumulated results, since it could create unnecessary anxiety.
On the proposed presidential debate, Mr Ampem Darko said all flag bearers would be brought together for a presidential debate, adding that three nominated journalists would ask the questions, while the sitting arrangement would be decided by ballot.
However, the political parties could not arrive at a conclusion on the issue of the presidential debate, saying they would refer it to their respective party leaderships to deliberate on.
Mr Boateng said GBC would cover national rallies addressed by flag bearers and that the duration would not exceed four minutes. He, however, said additional programmes, such as spot adverts and documentaries, would be paid for.
Besides, he said, paid-for materials should reach GBC 48 hours before broadcast for vetting.
The GBC and the political parties agreed on eight national rallies and 10 regional rallies for each political party. They also concluded that political statements should be recorded to avoid character assassination and mischievous twist of facts.