A tense and highly charged exchange unfolded during a sitting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, clashed with PAC Chairperson Abena Osei Asare over delays in addressing poor telecommunications service delivery across the country.
The confrontation began when the Minister was responding to concerns raised by committee members about persistent network challenges and the slow pace of corrective measures by telecom operators.
Defending government action, Sam George stressed that policy direction was essential to regulate private telecom companies whose operations are profit driven. He argued that despite their commercial focus, such companies contribute significantly through corporate taxes and must still be guided by strong government leadership to protect consumers.
Tension escalated when the PAC Chairperson attempted to interject and urged the Minister to be concise in his response. The interruption triggered a back and forth exchange between the two, with both insisting on procedural control of the discussion and the right to speak.
The situation briefly grew heated as the Minister maintained that he was entitled to complete his submission, while the Chairperson insisted on maintaining order and guiding the proceedings of the committee. The exchange reflected a sharp disagreement over speaking privileges and committee protocol during oversight questioning.
Despite the confrontation, the session eventually continued with Sam George outlining government interventions aimed at improving network quality. He explained that under recent policy directives, telecom operators had been instructed to expand infrastructure significantly to address coverage gaps.
He disclosed that MTN Ghana is rolling out 800 new network sites, while Telecel is deploying 350 additional sites, bringing the combined total to 1,150 new sites within the current year.
According to him, these developments represent a major increase compared to the historical average of 223 sites per year over the past decade, marking what he described as a substantial acceleration in infrastructure expansion.
He further explained that network improvements require technical and logistical processes, including site acquisition, equipment procurement, and coordination with original equipment manufacturers and the National Communications Authority.
He noted that many of the necessary devices are expected to arrive between July and August, after which installation and activation will follow. He cautioned that such processes cannot be rushed, emphasizing that meaningful network improvement typically takes several months to materialize.
The Minister expressed confidence that by the end of the third quarter into the fourth quarter of the year, users would begin to experience noticeable improvements in network quality as the new infrastructure becomes operational.
