Media regulators, advocates and MPs want strict governance rules and an output index to guide Ghana's reactivated GH¢10 million Media Development Fund.

Published 10 Nov 2026, 07:28 GMT

4 min read

President John Dramani Mahama speaks at the 30th GJA Media Awards — President Mahama at the 30th GJA Media Awards in Accra on Saturday, November 7, 2026

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Media regulators, press freedom advocates and lawmakers are demanding strict governance rules and independent oversight for the government's reactivated GH¢10 million Media Development Fund to prevent political interference.

It will support journalists through welfare and safety programmes, skills training, investigative reporting and digital literacy.

Speaking on JoyNews' PM Express on Monday, November 9, media executives and analysts welcomed the pledge but warned that past funding schemes faltered over opaque management and partisan pressures.

Why the MFWA and NMC want strict grant criteria

Kwaku Krobea Asante, Programme Manager at the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), said the fund's credibility will depend on clear eligibility rules and legal safeguards.

"We need to deal with the structures that are put in place, the government, the legal and governance safeguards, and the clear operational structures," Asante said, citing state-backed media funds in France, Scandinavia, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

He recalled that after an earlier GH¢1 million allocation in 2013 was spent on laptops for media houses without published selection or procurement rules, civil society questions went unanswered: "We don't have answers to those questions."

30th GJA Media Awards: Mahama reaffirms press freedom commitment

National Media Commission (NMC) Executive Secretary George Sarpong proposed tying grants to verifiable output by reviving a regulator index that tracked coverage of agriculture, maternal health and children's welfare.

"In the past, at the National Media Commission, we developed a measure that we called the CMI (Credibility Measurement Index)," Sarpong said.

"If we are going to give a grant to any media organisation, that media organisation itself must have systems that support accountability," he added, favouring a small committee with fundraising capacity.

"We need to decide whether we want to create a bureaucracy around this fund. That won't be my best suggestion," he said.

Ashigbey warns of 'charlatans', licensing and partisan pressures

Former Graphic Communications Group boss and media manager Dr Kenneth Ashigbey backed the performance index and a lean team of "two or three people using technology", saying grants must reward newsrooms covering national development.

"We need to find a way in which we separate the charlatans who are just pretending to be media practitioners from those who are actually doing the media job," Ashigbey said.

With digital platforms absorbing advertising revenue and pushing newsrooms toward "what I call PR journalism", Ashigbey said citizens must demand sustainable Fourth Estate funding: "The politicians would not want independent media to thrive. They both, the NDC and NPP, would not want it to thrive."

Bipartisan backing in Parliament

Bunkpurugu MP Dr Abednego Lamangin Bandim said the GH¢10 million pledge had won cross-party backing in Parliament, citing Mahama's background as a journalist and GJA member.

"I can certainly say that there is a conversation ongoing immediately the President announced this GH¢10 million as seed money for the fund, and both sides of Parliament – what I hear is that, yes, it is a good thing."

"We have waited for it for a very long time," Bandim said, adding that MPs are awaiting a Private Member's Bill.

Araba IncoomAraba Incoom writes on multiple topics with a vast knowledge across different sector. You can almost call me an AI, after all, my initials are Araba Incoom.

Media Development Fund: MFWA, NMC and Ashigbey demand clear rules for GH¢10m seed money

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