NPP gives Communications Ministry 30 days to publish rural telephony status report

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has given the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations a 30-day deadline to publish a comprehensive update on the implementation and current status of the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project.

The party’s Policy Committee on Communications and Digitalization is calling for detailed figures showing the number of rural telephony sites that have been constructed, connected and are operational, as well as those that have been completed but are currently inactive.

The demand follows a briefing by Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George on the state of rural connectivity and the government’s plans to upgrade existing rural telephony infrastructure to support at least 4G services.

In a statement signed by NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee Chairman Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party rejected suggestions that rural connectivity was neglected over the previous decade. It argued that records demonstrate substantial investment in rural telecommunications infrastructure under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.

According to the NPP, the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project was launched in 2020 and supported by a €155 million facility from the China EXIM Bank. The project was initially approved to deliver 2,016 sites, with the aim of extending connectivity to between three and four million people living in underserved communities.

The party said 1,961 sites had been constructed by the time the previous administration transferred power in January 2025. It added that equipment was also available to facilitate the deployment of approximately 400 additional sites.

However, the NPP expressed concern about what it described as slow progress in the rollout since the change in government. It claimed that no additional rural telephony sites were constructed in 2025, despite equipment being available for hundreds of sites.

The party further alleged that a larger proportion of the sites that had already been constructed and activated are now out of service compared with the situation at the time of the January 2025 handover.

The NPP also challenged claims that 46 sites located in hard-to-reach areas cannot be technically connected. According to the party, a satellite hub at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT had been upgraded and was ready to provide the necessary backhaul connectivity to those communities.

It maintained that the affected sites remain unconnected because the contracted hub service has not been utilised and paid for, arguing that the issue is therefore commercial and administrative rather than technical.

While supporting the government’s plan to upgrade rural telephony infrastructure to 4G, the NPP urged the Ministry to prioritise connecting sites that have already been constructed and restoring services at facilities that are no longer operational.

The party is also demanding that the Ministry and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) release a clear deployment timetable for outstanding sites, provide an update on the operational status of the satellite hub, and outline the proposed 4G upgrade programme, including its cost, funding arrangements and implementation schedule.

Additionally, the NPP wants the Ministry to appear before Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications to provide an update on the project.

The party said the status of the rural telephony programme should ultimately be determined by verifiable data and documented evidence rather than conflicting public statements.