Focus on Ghana’s needs, not digital migration – Nduom to gov’t

The government of Ghana must channel the country’s scarce resources into fixing more important needs rather than wants, Progressive People’s Party (PPP) founder Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has said.

“The new administration should spend its time on those matters that fall in the ‘need’ category,” the business consultant admonished.

Dr Nduom stated on his Facebook wall that Communications Minister-designate Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said during her vetting in Parliament that: “…My priority now is looking for the financing to power the network that has been the infrastructure put in place, and then subsequent to that we can think about looking for additional funding for the set-top boxes which will enable those who have analogue TV sets watch the new digital transmission; so once we solve all these problems, then we can stick to the September 2017 timeline. But if need be, we may have to extend it.”

But Dr Nduom, in a reply, expressed a different view.

“When we still have a challenge financing stable power supply, building the public schools to provide the education our children need, grappling with a humongous debt that prevents us from building the infrastructure to push development, why take on financing digital migration also?” he questioned.

For him, Ghana’s challenged government treasury must not be used to acquire digital boxes, decoders, etc.

“Government cannot buy set-top boxes or digital television sets for all Ghanaians. We now have pension funds in Ghana to provide long term capital if the rules are revised to deal with such wants within the private sector,” he noted.

The entrepreneur and chairman of Groupe Nduom has urged Mrs Owusu-Ekuful to rather “engage the private sector and let the market fill the void”, adding: “Only the best and cost-effective solutions should prevail in the end.”