The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Hon. Samuel Nartey George, has directed an immediate comprehensive audit of all 2,016 rural telephony sites constructed across the country under the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project.
The Minister gave the directive on Monday, October 13, 2026, during a field inspection of ongoing rural telephony projects in the Sekyere Afram Plains District of the Ashanti Region, one of the most deprived and hard-to-reach districts in terms of connectivity.
Addressing the media during the tour, Hon. Sam George announced that the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has been instructed to verify the physical construction, active status and traffic capacity of every single site inherited under the national project.
“At the board level, we’ve authorised the administrator to carry out an audit so that I’m unable to visit all the 2,016 sites myself we’re commissioning an audit to ascertain the status of all of the sites: whether the sites are up and constructed, and when they are constructed, whether they are active and passing traffic,” the Minister stated.
According to the Minister, the audit has become necessary to establish the true state of the rural connectivity infrastructure inherited by the current administration and to ensure value for money for the state.
Immediate Activations In Remote Communities
During the inspection tour, the Minister confirmed immediate network activations across several remote communities in the district that have been without reliable telecom services for years.
He disclosed that the telecommunications mast at Dawia is expected to go live to route local network traffic via its donor site at Birim by the close of today.
Similarly, solar-powered sites at Abenua, Nyameama No. 1 and Nyameama No. 2 are scheduled to achieve full connectivity and be integrated into the national network by the end of this week, he added.
In Anyinofi, Hon. Sam George highlighted that telecom subcontractor, Ascend Digital Solutions, has commenced construction on a new physical telecommunications mast in partnership with MTN Ghana.
He further revealed that following consultations with the District Chief Executive (DCE) and the Member of Parliament for the area, three additional communities with existing equipment have been identified for immediate installation.
“Our desire to connect our communities is real. Across almost all these rural communities, there is no electricity, but we are bringing connectivity ahead of time. Today, access to the digital footprint is as critical as roads, water and electricity,” Hon. Sam George stressed.
Battery Theft Biggest Threat To Rural Telecoms
Addressing the primary operational bottlenecks facing rural connectivity, the Minister identified battery theft as the single greatest threat to solar-powered telecom infrastructure in rural Ghana.
He issued a passionate appeal to traditional authorities, assembly members and local youth groups to take ownership and safeguard the solar storage battery banks installed to power the masts, describing them as community assets.
He noted that while grid-connected outage issues involving prepaid electricity meters are being addressed directly with district authorities, theft and vandalism of solar installations require community collaboration to curb.
To prevent the expansion of the digital divide as major cities transition to 5G networks, the Minister disclosed that the Ministry is spearheading a strategic upgrade of rural GIFEC networks from 3G to 4G standards, ensuring that rural residents gain access to reliable high-speed data for education, health and business.
He also confirmed that MTN Ghana has been contracted to build 800 new physical telecommunications sites across underserved constituencies nationwide.
According to him, this targeted site allocation followed an intensive 13-hour consultation session at the Ministry, where parliamentary caucuses and technical teams mapped out high-priority connectivity gaps constituency by constituency to ensure equitable distribution.
Hon. Sam George highlighted that funding for the smaller community networks continues through GIFEC contributions from licensed telecommunication operators, bridging the gap where commercial telecom masts are economically unviable due to low population density and high operational expenses.
He assured residents that the Mahama administration, supported by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, remains fully committed to guaranteeing the financial resources necessary to bridge the digital gap between rural and urban Ghana and to achieve universal connectivity.
The inspection tour forms part of the Minister’s nationwide monitoring of digital infrastructure projects under the government’s Reset Agenda.
