[1993]DLSC774 • November 30, 1993 • Supreme Court •
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY vs. GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged that the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), a state-owned media entity, gave extensive airtime to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to justify the 1993 budget, while denying the NPP equal opportunity to present its divergent views. The NPP requested equal broadcasting time to present its views on the budget, which GBC refused, leading to the constitutional challenge.
read moreJUDGMENT OF ARCHER CJ I have had the opportunity of reading the reasons embodied in the opinion of my brother Francois JSC 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, 1992, I do not think that that article has any relevance to the action. One has to read the whole of article 55 of the Constitution, 1992 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-owned media to provide opportunities to all political parties to present their programmes. Article 55(11) and (12) of the Constitution, 1992 reads: “(11) 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. (12) All presidential candidates shall be given the same amount of time.....