The Minority Caucus in Parliament has called on the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation to resign, or for the President to dismiss him, over what it described as his failure to secure a 30 per cent reduction in DStv subscription fees for Ghanaians.
They said the minister must also render an unqualified apology to the public, branding his efforts as “a waste of the nation’s time and resources.”
“We call on him to account for the fines levied on DStv, and we deem him unfit to continue as the minister. We therefore call on him to resign or for the President to fire him,” the Minority said.
‘Eat the humble pie’
Speaking on behalf of the Caucus, the Deputy Ranking Member of the Communications and Information Committee, Charles Asuako Owiredu, said the minister had failed to achieve the very reduction he had championed.
“If you go to Namibia, Kenya, Malawi, and Botswana, the current DStv promotion is running in these countries. Having failed to achieve a 30 per cent reduction, we urge the minister to eat the humble pie since he has eggs all over his face; just eat the humble pie that, ‘I went to negotiate on behalf of Ghanaians and wanted a 30 per cent reduction, but I was only able to get value addition,’” he stated.
“At least when you do this, people will appreciate that you did your best, but your best was not enough. But to still insist without now even mentioning a 30 per cent reduction speaks of his disingenuity,” he added.
Intransigent stance
Mr. Owiredu noted that since August 2025, the minister, Samuel Nartey George, had been campaigning for a 30 per cent reduction in DStv fees, highlighting the disparity between the premium bouquet price of $83 in Ghana compared to $29 in Nigeria.
MultiChoice, operators of DStv, dismissed the demand as “untenable,” warning it could result in job losses and reduced service options. A proposal by the company to freeze prices while halting remittances was described by the minister as “illogical.”
“Several escalations occurred, prompting South Africa’s Foreign Minister to intervene, but this effort failed due to the minister’s intransigent stance,” Mr. Owiredu said.
He added that the issue worsened when the National Communications Authority imposed a GH¢10,000 daily fine on MultiChoice for failing to submit pricing data. “The minister, all this while, reiterated his sole objective of price reduction. Indeed, in one of his media encounters, he reaffirmed this uncompromising price reduction position,” he said.
Swift change of position
Mr. Owiredu argued that the minister later abandoned his initial stance when he chaired a committee to negotiate with MultiChoice and, on September 29, announced what he described as a breakthrough.
“The display of disingenuity and deceit in what we properly termed a settings update was seen by all of you. The minister completely abandoned his original firm 30 per cent reduction stance for the ongoing promotional offers by MultiChoice, which he claimed was a generational success story,” he said.
He explained that MultiChoice had been running such promotions long before the minister’s intervention, citing the “Step Up” campaign, which has allowed subscribers to upgrade to higher packages at no extra cost across several African countries since January.
Reduce taxes
While agreeing that DStv charges in Ghana are higher than in Nigeria, Mr. Owiredu urged the government to review the taxes levied on the company locally.
“DStv has come out to say that cumulatively they pay taxes close to 28 per cent, comprising 15 per cent VAT, 2.5 per cent GETFund, 2.5 per cent NHIS, five per cent Communication Service Tax, and three per cent on imported decoders.
“In the case of Nigeria, it is only five per cent that DStv pays to the government of Nigeria. There is no way you can get them to reduce prices to the levels of the Nigerian market,” he explained.
Source: Graphic Online
