Electronic Communications Tribunal set to handle appeals against NCA
A tribunal that allows electronic communications companies, especially the telecommunications and broadcasting firms, to appeal against decisions or orders made by the National Communications Authority (NCA), has been launched.
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Speaking at the launch in Accra yesterday, the Chairperson of the Public Services Commission (PSC), Mrs Bridget Katsriku, said any electronic communications company that “may be aggrieved by decisions made by the NCA can, from today, Wednesday, September 28, this year, begin to file official complaints at the office of the tribunal located at Cantonments in Accra”.
The tribunal is managed by a three-member team headed by a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Dr Justice Kofi Date-Bah.
The other members are Prof. Nii Narku Quaynor, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), and Mr Biadela Mortey Akpadzi, the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO).
At the launch, the electronic communication rules of procedure of the Electronic Communications Tribunal Regulation 2016, which was passed into law in July, were also outdoored.
Backed by law
Mrs Katsriku said the launch of the tribunal was in accordance with the provision in Section 88 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 772).
“The decisions of the regulator may, sometimes, not go down well with some parties or players in the industry. Therefore, in our current democratic dispensation and rule of law, it is necessary that law should provide recourse for those who may be aggrieved by decisions made by public officials acting as regulators,” she said.
She said the goal was to ensure the speedy execution of issues between the NCA and its stakeholders, explaining that the long procedures at court made it difficult for most of the long-standing issues between the NCA and its stakeholders to be addressed.
“The tribunal is a good platform that electronic communications companies can use to appeal against the decisions of the NCA,” Mrs Katsriku added.
She expressed confidence in the tribunal’s capacity to provide an open, fair and impartial forum for the resolution of all disputes in the electronic communications industry.
Tribunal ready to work
Speaking on behalf of the tribunal, Dr Justice Date-Bah said all procedures had been laid down to ensure that issues that came before the tribunal were speedily executed.
He said after they had been sworn into office, the team was required to prepare proposals for rules of procedure for the approval of the tribunal.
Dr Justice Date-Bah said Parliament, in July this year, passed the Electronic Communications Rules of Procedure of the Electronic Communications Tribunal Regulations, 2016 (L.I. 2235) into law.