‪Rapper Edem has added his voice to the current debate on the payment of TV Licence Fees, saying it is a shame to fund the state broadcaster.

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‪In a tweet, the ‘Nyedzilo’ hit maker asks GTV to close down if they cannot stand the competition from private television stations.‬

‪“If national TV cant face the growing competition on the television or in the media industry please close down..,” he tweeted.‬

‪He also describes the TV Licence Fees as rip-off.‬

‪“Don’t siphon money from us in the name of TV license.. Instead of spear heading the payment of royalties, u want to rip us off.. Such a shame,” he added.‬

‪The TV Licence Fees established by the Television Licensing Act – 1966 (NLCD 89) were re-introduced in 2015 to charge fees from individuals and groups that own television sets.‬

‪The licence fee has been put into three categories. The first category is the domestic use which charges GH¢36 per television set and GH¢60 for two or more TV sets in the same house.‬

‪TV set repairers and outlets shall pay GH¢60, while TV dealers pay GH¢120.‬

‪The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (including GTV) which has been mandated to do the collection of the fees will take 72% of the revenue.‬

‪Ghana Independent Broadcasting Association (GIBA) gets 15%, National Media Commission (NMC) – 4%, Media Development Fund – 4%, the Management of TV Licence Fee (GBC) gets 3% and Films Fund also takes 2% of the revenue.‬

‪The debate on the payment of the fees got re-ignited when news broke few days ago that Chief Justice, Gloria Akuffo had established 11 special TV Licence Courts across the regions to try defaulters of the licence fees.‬

‪The courts, which will sit in the 10 regional capitals plus Tema on Thursdays, will be presided over by 11 designated circuit court judges.‬

‪The time for the Court sitting is 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.‬

watch “Mighty Jesus” by Edem

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‪By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana‬