Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Samuel Nartey George, has rebuffed MultiChoice Ghana’s decision to maintain their subscription fees despite his directive to them to slash it.
He says MultiChoice Ghana’s insistence on charging the current subscription fees is a slap in the face of the citizenry, when same services are being offered in other countries at cheaper rates.
According to him, the Nigerian government for instance, took them on when they announced an increment in fees, which they obliged, and cannot fathom why they want to take Ghanaians for granted.
The Minister, speaking at a Government Accountability press briefing in Accra on Friday, August 1, 2025, gave MultiChoice until August 7 to implement the 30 per cent fee cut or face suspension of its broadcasting license.
He described DStv’s pricing in Ghana as unfair, noting that customers pay the equivalent of US$83 for the premium bouquet, compared with US$29 paid by subscribers in Nigeria for the same package.
The minister rejected suggestions that currency depreciation justifies the price difference, calling the situation “plain stealing” from Ghanaian consumers.
But in response, MultiChoice Ghana, operators of DStv, indicated that reducing their fees in the manner the Minister is demanding is “not tenable.”
It, however, expressed its readiness to engage constructively with the government and assured that it would continue to operate within Ghana’s laws and regulations.
READ ALSO: ‘It is not tenable’ – MultiChoice Ghana rejects 30% DStv subscription cut proposal by Sam George
The sector Minister, Samuel Nartey George, however, maintains that the only engagement he is ready to have with MultiChoice is about reducing their subscription fees and nothing else.
“I remain open to “constructive engagements” that are centred on PRICE REDUCTION. Anything else is tangential and of no consequence.”
He bemoaned how “corporations have fleeced” Ghanaians over the years, citing how DStv fees saw a 15% increase in April this year, when all economic indices, including inflation, fuel prices, and the performance of the cedi on the forex market, had appreciated.
Find below his full response to MultiChoice Ghana:
I have read the release by DStv Ghana and taken full consideration that they vindicate my earlier position that they simply do not take the Ghanaian people serious enough.
The same Group operating in Nigeria reversed price increases in Nigeria when the Nigerian authorities sued them. The Nigerian House of Representatives took the matter up and ordered a suspension of the increases. They complied.
This year, in April, at a time the Ghanaian cedi had seen a ~10% appreciation against all major currencies, inflation had dropped by over 5% and fuel prices had also dropped, DStv announced and implemented a 15% increase.
I believe in the interest of transparency, I make public the alternate proposal that DStv offered to me that I flatly rejected.
They proposed that I allow them maintain the collection of the exorbitant bouquet prices as they stand but order them not to send the revenue to their headquarters. In all honesty, that offer lacks any logic in my estimation. The essence of my action is to see Ghanaians pay a fair price for the services offered. How does this proposal solve the real issue?
For far too long, corporations have fleeced the Ghanaian people. There has been a RESET and it demands a new style of public service that is fiercely protective of the Ghanaian people. I remain empathetic to the Ghanaian staff of DStv but I believe that they should stand with the rest of us as we demand what is right for us.
I remain open to “constructive engagements” that are centred on PRICE REDUCTION. Anything else is tangential and of no consequence.
For God and Country.
Gov’t threatens to suspend DSTV license by August 7 if subscription fees are not reduced
