I don’t intend to break your spirit—but to be frank, Ghana is a hell of a joke, most times.
I live in the United Kingdom and as such, I sit at a good corner to evaluate the soon to commence payment of TV Licence fee in Ghana, a country where our TV stations are full of chaff and countless advertisements.
I pay about £12 a month as TV Licence fee out here and this goes to the BBC, which does not run any advertisements—even that, I hate to pay it and I will come back to discussing this.
The National Media Commission (NMC) in Ghana has announced new television licensing fees which will come into force from Friday, August 21. The new fees means, the fee for domestic owners of television has been increased from GH¢30 to GH¢36 per annum for one television set but GH¢60 for two or more.
Per reports, the Chairman of the Commission, Ambassador Kabral Blay Amihere has mentioned that, Ghana’s fee for domestic owners is inadequate in relation to fees charged elsewhere. He cited that the new fee amounts to €6, which is wee when compared to €31 (in South Africa), €119 (in France), €194 (in the UK), €204 (in Germany) and €292 (in Switzerland).
Of course the Chairman of the Commission is right about the fees in Ghana being insignificant, compared to other countries—but what his spectacle blocks his eyes from seeing is the fact that, Ghanaians are not necessary worried about the amount but the anger rest on the question; why must they pay out any TV Licence fee at all?
Once again, those in power are going to rip-off ordinary Ghanaians with this absurd TV Licence fees and I will explain to you why this is a complete cheat, nothing like what is being practiced in the UK, the foundation-head of many of the global TV Licence schemes.
In the UK, TV Licence fee goes to the BBC and its independent subsidiaries—so that the corporation can operate with enough funds, unbiased and free from political manipulation, as well as corporate undue influences.
For this reason, the BBC does not run any advertisements—and therefore, people living in the UK pay TV Licence fees to keep the BBC in operation. The BBC also sells out self-produced programmes and some of its valued broadcast to interested parties across the globe for huge sums of money.