In a move that has stirred Ghana’s tech and political circles, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations. The party wants the Ministry to publish a comprehensive status report on the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, a flagship initiative meant to bridge the digital divide in underserved communities.
The demand, spearheaded by the NPP’s Policy Committee on Communications and Digitalization, was made public following a high-level briefing by Communication Minister Samuel Nartey George. The Minister had outlined the government’s plan to upgrade rural telephony sites to at least 4G, but the NPP insists that more transparency is needed on the current state of the project.
According to a statement signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, the party is seeking detailed data: How many sites have been constructed, connected, and are fully operational? How many have been built but remain out of service? The NPP argues that these answers are critical to understanding the real progress made.
Rejecting claims that rural connectivity had been neglected in the previous decade, the NPP stated that, contrary to the Minister’s characterization, “the records show significant investments were made under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.” The Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, they pointed out, was launched in 2020 with a €155 million facility from the China EXIM Bank, aiming to build 2,016 sites and connect 3-4 million people.
By the end of the last NPP administration in January 2025, the party claims, 1,961 sites had been constructed, with equipment procured for 400 more. But since the change in government, the NPP alleges, progress has stalled. “No new rural telephony site was constructed in 2025 despite the availability of equipment,” the statement read. Even more troubling, the NPP says that many previously operational sites are now offline.
The party also pushed back against suggestions that 46 sites could not be connected because they are in hard-to-reach areas. “A satellite hub at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT had already been upgraded to provide backhaul services,” the NPP said. They argue that the issue is not technical, but a matter of administrative delays and commercial arrangements that have yet to be finalized.
While the NPP welcomed government plans to upgrade rural infrastructure to 4G, they cautioned against leaving existing sites disconnected or allowing service to lapse. Their demands are clear: The Ministry and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) must publish a deployment schedule for the remaining sites, report on the operational status of the satellite hub, and share a detailed plan, including costs and timelines, for the 4G upgrade. The party also wants Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications to be briefed with verifiable data, not just public statements or claims.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com