By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The General Manager of Citi FM and host of Citi FM’s morning show “The Citi Breakfast Show” and the Point Of View Show on Citi TV, Mr. Bernard Koku Avle has called on Ghanaians especially Christians to vote out the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress come the 2024 polls.
According to him, the two political parties have been at the helm of affairs of the country for over three decades yet there is little progress made.
He is, therefore, urging the citizenry especially the Christian community to lead the change in developmental drive they yearn to see in the life of Ghana.
Mr. Avle was speaking at the fourth edition of the National Christian Forum dubbed 2023 National Christian Forum (NCF23), held in Accra.
The three-day national forum which was organised by the Advocates for Christ Ghana (A4CG), a Christian Non-profit professional group was on the theme: “Election 2024; assessing the impact of Political Parties and how Christians should vote.”
He admonished the church to lead change by using their pulpits to encourage members not to vote for the two parties which have been doing the same thing over and over again without making any meaningful progress in the life of the citizenry.
“Lead the change you want to see. Go all out, tell your neighbours, your co-workers, move to your hometown, and any other groups and places you can reach to tell them not to vote for the NPP or NDC.
We will never get the positive change we want as a people if we don’t get involved to influence who becomes the president, Members of Parliament or Assembly members,” he stated.
On the issues of corruption, the ACE broadcaster explained that corruption in the media or any sector of Ghana should not be seen as a moral thing but also an economic issue.
Speaking on the topic: “The Impact of Political Parties on the Media”, Mr. Avle didn’t understand why there should be over 500 radio stations operating in Ghana.
Although he was of the view that the media is a critical social tool of engineering either good or bad, Mr. Avle thinks the Ghanaian media space is too cluttered.
According to him. Ghana is the most radio-saturated market in the whole world thus it has been unprofitable and due to that owners and managers are not able to pay their staff well.
What is the market size of Ghana’s market? So if you have over 500 radio stations operating at a go, how will the owners or managers of the stations pay and pay well journalists? He enquired.
Low pay, and to some extent some journalists are not on salary so they depend on soli, which creates an avenue for corruption. He emphasised.
Mr. Avle also revealed that radio and television frequencies are shared like groundnuts in an election year or after a change in government.
The General Manager of Citi FM and host of Citi FM’s morning show “The Citi Breakfast Show” and the Point Of View Show on Citi TV, has therefore, called on the church to as a matter of urgency opt for research-based policy alternatives, support righteous entrepreneurs, build ethical professionals and encourage God-fearing content creators.