SECTOR 2 the NMC before publishing any content. However, certain aspects of this law contained provisions that were deemed unconstitutional in terms of Article 162 of the Constitution on media freedoms and was struck down by the court in November 2016 in a ruling in favour of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA). It was noted by a panellist that the regulations would have provided for greater transparency in terms of broadcast media ownership. The government has stated a commitment to implementing a beneficial ownership transparency regime, and in July 2016, was in the process of amending the Companies Act to ensure this. The amendment has to be gazetted, and it is understood that the Register General’s office will be tasked with collecting information on ultimate beneficial ownership. “Media ownership determines everything, so the public is entitled to know who owns the news sources they are exposed to. This is, however, complicated by the fact that secrecy laws are still in place.” “Diversity and pluralism are important in democracy building, and it is important that everyone knows who owns what.” Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.4 (2006:n/a; 2008:n/a; 2011:n/a; 2013:3.0) 2.5 Adequate competition legislation/regulation seeks to prevent media concentration and monopolies. Ghana does not have a competition law, and the NMC does not have the mandate to curb monopolisation or media concentration. The National Communications Authority (NCA) Act does not carry any provisions around competition, and a panellist noted that “there was an internal policy to this effect that did not survive.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017 31