John Dramani Mahama, Former president
Former Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has issued an open challenge to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to list specific investments in Ghana's digital infrastructure over the past seven years.
He describes Dr. Bawumia's self-acclamation as the pioneer in transforming the sector as disingenuous and very troubling.
Kwakye Ofosu insists that the Vice President must be exposed for his persistent false claims, which are designed to mislead unsuspecting Ghanaians ahead of the 2024 elections.
"Digitalization is the product of the evolution of the technology industry that depends on a solid foundation," explained Mr. Kwakye Ofosu, who was speaking on NDC360, a political talk show designed to set the records straight and educate Ghanaians on John Mahama's policy initiatives ahead of the 2024 elections.
To drive Ghana's competitiveness with the rest of the world, President John Mahama took bold steps to leverage technological innovation to create economic opportunities and improve governance.
In the 'Lest We Forget' segment, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu described as disingenuous Dr. Bawumia's claim that the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government has done far better than any government since independence through the issuance of more licenses for fibre optic networks.
"NCA has provided six fibre optic licenses since Ghana began. The first was provided under [former] President Kufuor, which was VoltaCom.
"Of all the six, five were provided under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP. So, under the NPP since 2017, we have provided licenses for five," the Vice President claimed as he addressed a retreat for heads of government institutions at Kwahu Nkwatia in the Eastern region in November 2021.
However, Kwakye Ofosu, who is also the parliamentary candidate for Abura Asebu Kwamankese in the Central region, said that this is completely misleading because it overlooks the critical issue of interest.
"Dr. Bawumia is simply displaying ignorance. His narratives suggest he is setting his own questions and awarding himself high marks. It's like working at DVLA and claiming you also have a car because you have licensed a car," he added.
"It's a verifiable fact that John Mahama has made the biggest public investment in critical digital infrastructure, that is, fibre optic cables. He built a 1000km Rural Fibre Network from Accra to Bawku, a 300km radius Metro Fibre Network with the capacity to offer WiFi and ICT services to millions of Ghanaians and businesses within the enclave, and an LTE/4G network with over 119 Base Stations to provide internet connectivity and a network backbone to support government institutions (Ministries, Departments, Agencies)," he emphasized.
The Rural Fibre Network, for example, connects six regions (Accra, Volta, Oti, Northern region, North East, and Upper East), through over 26 districts and over 100 communities. This network not only provided internet and voice call services to millions of Ghanaians but also facilitated research, teaching, and learning at institutions like the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS).
He added that John Mahama also built the biggest Tier-3, 600 Rackspace Data Center in West Africa in Accra, as well as another 45 Rackspace backup.
Digging further, Kwakye Ofosu said it is also false that only six companies have been issued terrestrial fibre optic cable licenses. "There are 13 licensed companies in Ghana. Of these, eleven are active Vodafone Ghana. These include Glo Mobile, Scancom PLC (MTN Ghana), Millicom Ghana Ltd (Tigo), Airtel Ghana Ltd, Comsys Ghana Ltd, National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Internet Solutions (IS), C-Squared, MainOne, Spectrum Fibre Company Ltd, and Ghana Grid Company Ltd," he added.
Kwakye Ofosu, who dared the NPP and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to come out with their evidence, said, as a key actor then as a former Deputy Communications Minister, he provided additional evidence with dates on when each of the companies received their operational licenses, some dating as far back as February 2004.
