Reports from the Manhyia Palace indicate that it has given the go ahead for Oyerepa FM to start operations after it was ordered to shut down, following the furor over comments made on the station by Mr. Akwasi Addai Odike, a Kumasi based businessman and politician.
The latter had accused Manhyia Palace of being neck-deep in the illegal mining operations, which are destroying water bodies in the region.
A day after his pronouncement on the radio station, the Kumasi Traditional Council (KTC) slaughtered a ram and banished Mr. Odike from the Manhyia Palace.
When management of Oyerepa FM also went to the chiefs to plead for clemency, they were advised to first shut down the radio station and come back later, which they did.
When management appeared before the Traditional Council for the second time yesterday, they were asked to resume transmission, though an official at Manhyia Palace had denied through radio interviews that they (chiefs) ordered the radio station to shut down.
Whether the Kumasi chiefs ordered Oyerepa FM to shut down or not, The Chronicle is happy that they are now back on air.
The Chronicle does not have any evidence to support what Odike reportedly said on the radio station. We believe the radio station itself does not have that evidence.
What they ought to have done, therefore, was to have asked Odike to prove the allegation against the chiefs or retract it, which Oyerepa FM probably failed to do.
But this mistake, in our view, does not warrant the way chiefs constituting the Traditional Council descended on the radio station.
Yes, Kumasi is part of Ashanti Kingdom, but the gospel truth is that it is also part and parcel of a country called Ghana, which is governed by rules and regulations.
One of the rules or regulations is that when a journalist tarnishes your image, you can report him or her to the National Media Commission or proceed to court.
Nowhere has the 1992 Constitution guaranteed chiefs or traditional rulers the powers to order closure of a radio station because they have broadcast contents that seriously affect their reputations.
Unfortunately, the Ghanaian journalist has of late come under attack from these traditional rulers because they disagree with some of the news items they broadcast.
A few months ago, Radio Ada, in the Greater Accra Region, was attacked by hoodlums for its persistent criticisms of salt mining going on in the area.
The Ada Traditional Council disassociated itself from the attack only to ban the same radio station from covering the Asafotufiam Festival.
Since there were widespread criticisms of this decision taken by Ada Traditional Council, no one expected that similar incident would occur again.
Surprisingly, the Kumasi Traditional Council has also followed suit by not only chastising Oyerepa FM over Odike’s comment, but actually advised the radio station to shut down. As the adage goes, “it is the one who fetches water that breaks the pot”.
The work of the journalist is a necessary evil in any democratic society and our traditional leaders must take note of this.
We are not condoning wrongdoing, but whenever a journalist makes a mistake, we must strive to use the laid down laws in the constitution to address it.
Clearly, the order for Oyerepa FM to close down was a complete affront to the 1992 constitution and similar situations must never happen again.
