The Majority Caucus in Parliament has said there were no grounds for the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovation, Sam Nartey George, to resign or be sacked as demanded by the Minority Caucus based on his handling of the DSTv pricing issue.
At a press conference in Accra on Friday, Sulemana Adama, a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communication said the demand by the Minority was just politically driven.
The Minority on Thursday had demanded that Mr George should resign, or the President should 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.
But reacting, the Majority Caucus defended Mr George’s handling of the dispute with MultiChoice Ghana.
Mr Sulemana Adama from the Majority Caucus argued that the Minister had acted in the interest of consumers and had achieved significant reforms in just eight months in office.
“There is nothing irregular about the Minister’s engagement with MultiChoice,” Mr Adama said. “He has acted within his mandate and continues to provide the needed leadership to stabilise and guide the sector. Calls for his resignation are unjustified.”
The Majority pointed to reductions in data and voice service costs and efforts to address long-standing complaints about subscription charges as evidence of Mr George’s progress. They also accused the Minority of ignoring past controversies, including opaque communication deals under previous administrations.
Mr Adama compared the situation to other instances in government where officials did not step down despite public criticism. “A president once failed in the fight against illegal mining but did not resign. A minister mishandled vaccine procurement but stayed in office. Why should a minister delivering results in the communications sector be asked to go?” he said.
The Minority had earlier accused Mr George of misleading Ghanaians by failing to secure a promised 30% cut in DStv subscription fees and misrepresenting MultiChoice’s promotional offers as government achievements. They demanded his resignation and urged the President to act if he refused.
But the Majority insisted MultiChoice itself had endorsed the Minister’s interventions, including an ongoing DStv “value upgrade” programme being monitored in collaboration with government.
“The driving force behind parliamentary activities must be protecting Ghanaian consumers, not populist rhetoric,” Mr Adama told reporters.
