The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, says the ban on television subscriptions at the Presidency is saving the state approximately GH₵120,000 every month.
This measure, he noted, forms part of a broader policy introduced by the Mahama-led administration to promote fiscal discipline and reduce non-essential government expenditures.
Mr. Kwakye Ofosu had earlier explained that the ban includes all paid TV services such as DStv and other satellite subscriptions.
All television sets at the seat of government now broadcast only free-to-air local channels.
In an interview with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Mr. Kwakye Ofosu revealed the ban is saving Ghana GH₵120,000 monthly.
He emphasized that the savings could be better used to address essential community needs, citing his own experience as a Member of Parliament.
“when we came to this very place the Jubilee House there were subscriptions to satellite television in addition to the local channels that we watch when we took stock of how much it costs to pay for the satellite subscription we noticed that in a month we spent GH₵120,000 just paying for subscriptions to satellite channels in this house, President Mahama has cancelled all of that and you know what GH₵120,000 monthly can do.”
“Let me give you a practical example, there are communities in AAEK that whose water problems you can resolve with GH₵1,000 and I have done that as MP, a GH₵1,000 because perhaps a pump is spoilt, you need to replace the that. Because of that a community of about 100 people goes without water for four months yet here we were sitting in this house with a government that used to pay GH₵120,000 monthly every month just for satellite television subscriptions, President Mahama has cut that.”
Mr. Kwakye Ofosu earlier further noted that this policy is just the beginning, with similar cost-cutting measures expected to be rolled out across other government ministries and departments.
