NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY vs. GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION

The plaintiff, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a registered political party, complained that the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), a state-owned broadcaster, gave extensive television coverage on 23 and 24 January 1993 to a forum at which Dr Kwesi Botchwey and other prominent members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) defended the 1993 Budget, but denied the NPP comparable opportunity to present its divergent views on the same budget. The NPP contended that this refusal violated the 1992 Constitution, particularly the guarantees of fair opportunity and access to state-owned media. Portion in judgment: Francois JSC stated that the plaintiff alleged that on 23 and 24 February 1993 the defendant gave media coverage to a forum organised by the NDC “to justify the budget of 1993 presented by Dr Kwesi Botchwey” and that “similar facilities were denied the New Patriotic Party to disseminate its contrary views on the budget.” Amua-Sekyi JSC similarly recounted that “The plaintiff, a registered political party, demanded that they too be given time on radio and television to air their views. The defendants refused to do so.”

ARCHER CJ. I have had the opportunity of reading the reasons embodied in the opinion of my brother Francois and I agree with the reasons. However, by way of emphasis I wish to add a few words. First, I wish to stress that although the plaintiff relied on article 55 of the constitution, I do not think that that article has any relevance to the action. One has to read the whole of article 55 to appreciate its import. That article deals with the organisation of political parties, the right to vote, and the responsibility of the State and the state media to provide opportunities to all political parties to present their programmes. Article 55(11) reads: “The State shall provide fair opportunity to all political parties to present their programmes to the public by ensuring equal access to the state-owned media.” Article 55(12) reads: “All Presidential candidates shall be given the same amount of time and space on the state-owned media to present their programmes to the people.” ...