The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the government to publish the current status of all rural telephony sites across the country within 30 days, as it intensifies scrutiny of the government’s claims on telecommunications infrastructure and connectivity.
Their call follows a briefing by the Communication Minister, Samuel Nartey George, on the state of rural connectivity and the government’s plans to upgrade rural telephony sites to at least 4G.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party declined the characterization of the previous decade as one of neglect in rural connectivity, arguing that the records show significant investments were made under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
It said the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project was launched in 2020, with a €155 million facility from the China EXIM Bank and an approved target of 2,016 sites to serve between three and four million people in underserved communities.
The statement added that 1,961 sites had been constructed by the time the previous government handed over power in January 2025, with equipment available for the deployment of an additional 400 sites.
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The party is, however, raising concerns over the pace of deployment since the change in government, claiming that no new rural telephony site was constructed in 2025 despite the availability of equipment for about 400 sites.
It further alleged that a greater proportion of the constructed and activated sites are now non-operational than they were at the time of the handover.
The statement also disputed claims that 46 sites deployed in hard-to-reach communities cannot technically be connected. It said a satellite hub at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT had been upgraded and prepared to provide backhaul services to the affected communities.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Vincent Kwofie.
