The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has given the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations a 30-day deadline to release a detailed report on the implementation of the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project.
The party’s Policy Committee on Communications and Digitalisation is seeking clarity on the number of rural telephony sites that have been completed, connected and are functioning, as well as those constructed but yet to be activated.
The demand follows recent comments by the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, on rural network coverage and the government’s proposed upgrade of rural telephony infrastructure to a minimum of 4G standard.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party challenged assertions that rural connectivity suffered neglect over the past decade.
It maintained that substantial investments were made in the sector during the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
The NPP said the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project was rolled out in 2020 under a €155 million financing arrangement from the China EXIM Bank.
The project was expected to establish 2,016 telecommunications sites and extend coverage to an estimated three to four million people in underserved communities.
According to the party, 1,961 sites had been completed by the time the former administration left office in January 2025. It added that equipment was also available for the installation of about 400 additional sites.
However, the NPP expressed concern about what it described as a slow pace of implementation under the current government. It alleged that no new rural telephony site was constructed in 2025, despite the availability of equipment to support the deployment of approximately 400 sites.
The party further claimed that more of the previously constructed and activated sites have become non-operational since the transition of power than was the case at the time of handover.
The NPP also rejected claims that 46 sites in difficult-to-access communities could not be connected due to technical constraints. It said the satellite hub at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT had been upgraded and was ready to provide backhaul connectivity to those locations.
According to the party, the challenge is not technical but commercial and administrative, alleging that the contracted hub service has not been activated because payment has not been made.
While commending the government’s plan to migrate rural telephony infrastructure to 4G, the NPP said priority must be given to connecting completed sites that remain inactive and restoring service to installations that have gone offline.
It is therefore calling on the Ministry and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) to publish a clear deployment plan for the outstanding sites, provide the current operational status of the satellite hub, and outline the full details of the proposed 4G upgrade.
The party said the upgrade plan should indicate its estimated cost, source of funding and implementation timetable.
The NPP is also demanding a formal briefing for Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications, arguing that the public debate over the project must be settled with transparent and verifiable data rather than competing political claims.
Source: www.Kumasimail.com
