Parliament has appealed to The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to take the necessary steps to recover debts owed the Corporation by Government Agencies and Institutions to enable it recover its operational cost and also settle part of its outstanding commitments.
During the parliamentary debates on the report of The Committee on Communication on the 2019 Annual Budget estimates of The Ministry of Information, it came to the fore that, various public institutions are indebted to GBC to the tune of GH¢ 19,188, 177, 60 for services rendered, but GBC is indebted to the tune of GH¢48,407,799.08, “currently, it is in arrears of electricity bills to the tune of GH¢20,436,456.34 and as a result, experiences frequent disconnections by ECG”.
According to the Committee’s report GBC facing a serious challenge of continuously losing its core technical and editorial staff to resignation and retirement,“unfortunately, in year 2017, GBC could not obtain clearance from the Ministry of Finance to recruit.
Although the Corporation made provision in its 2018 budget to recruit 100 persons, approval was given to recruit only two (2)”, but for the year 2019, GBC plans to recruit 60 people to augment its staff strength.
The report said, to enable GBC position itself as the leader in the broadcasting and communications industry, it is imperative among others that it engages people with the requisite skills and competences.
For 2019 financial year a total amount of GH¢75,644,139.97 has been provided for The Corporation, this amount represents an increase of 19.67% over the 2018 allocation of GH¢63,212,378.00.
Furthermore, “the Committee proposes that GBC hasten the commercialization of three of its channels to generate revenue to support its operations. It should also explore a more sustainable mode of funding the Corporation to make it more competitive.
It is informative to note that GBC’s IGF retention rate which was previously 100% was capped to 66% in year 2017”.
“The Committee, having regard to the Corporation’s circumstances and the serious implications of the capping for its operations, recommended in its 2018 budget report to the plenary, that the Ministry of Finance gives an exemption to GBC to retain 100% of its IGF.
The Committee is happy to report that approval has been given for GBC to retain all funds generated internally. Revenue realized will go a long way to support the activities of the Corporation.
The Committee was informed that some major equipment needed for the smooth operations of GBC are obsolete as they were purchased as far back as 2005. Thus, the Corporation experiences frequent breakdown of these equipment which have a high maintenance cost”.
Acquiring new equipment is capital intensive and therefore calls for the support of Government. In this regard, it is important more now than ever for GBC to be given adequate resources to procure some critical equipment to enable the Corporation migrate from analogue unto the digital platform.
The report however, concluded that, “the role the Ministry of Information plays in the collection, processing and dissemination of information on government programmes and policies is fundamental to the governance process and the development of the nation. Indeed, no society today can progress without the dissemination of timely and reliable information for decision making by both government and the citizens. It is therefore imperative that the Ministry is provided the needed resources to enable it play its role effectively and efficiently”.
In the light of the foregoing, the Committee recommends that the House approves the sum of One Hundred and Seventeen million, Nine Hundred and Fourteen Thousand and Three Hundred and Thirty Ghana Cedis (GH¢117,914,330.00) for the services of the Ministry of Information for the financial year ending 31st December, 2019 which was approved.
Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah
