The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has given the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations 30 days to publish a comprehensive status report on the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project.

The party is demanding verifiable data on the number of sites constructed, connected and operational, as well as those that have been completed but remain inactive.

NPP challenges rural connectivity claims

The demand follows a briefing by Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George on the state of rural connectivity and 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 rejected claims that the previous decade was characterised by neglect of rural connectivity.

The NPP said the project was launched in 2020 under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration with a €155 million China EXIM Bank facility, targeting 2,016 sites to provide connectivity to between three and four million people in underserved communities.

According to the party, 1,961 sites had been constructed by the time the previous government handed over power in January 2025, with equipment available to deploy another 400 sites.

NPP questions pace of deployment

The opposition party, however, expressed concern about the pace of deployment since the change in government, claiming that no new rural telephony site was constructed in 2025, despite equipment being available for about 400 additional sites.

It also alleged that a larger proportion of the constructed and activated sites are now non-operational than was the case at the time of the handover.

The NPP further disputed claims that 46 sites 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.

According to the party, the sites remain unconnected because the contracted hub service has not been taken up and paid for, making the issue a commercial and administrative matter rather than a technical limitation.

Demands 4G upgrade details

While welcoming the government’s plan to upgrade rural telephony infrastructure to 4G, the NPP cautioned that the upgrade should not take precedence over connecting already-constructed sites and restoring services that have lapsed.

It wants the Ministry and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) to publish a deployment schedule for outstanding sites, the operational status of the satellite hub and a detailed plan for the proposed 4G upgrade.

The plan, it said, should include the cost, financing arrangements and implementation timeline.

Party wants parliamentary briefing

The NPP is also demanding that the Ministry brief Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications on the project’s status.

It said the controversy over rural connectivity should be resolved through verifiable data rather than competing public claims, with the government providing a clear account of the progress and current operational status of the project.