Is Ursula working for Chinese StarTimes or Ghana? – Sam George questions

The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George has accused the minister of communications Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful of giving Chinese company, StarTimes undue favours in the move to reassign Ghana’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) project to them.

He said StarTimes did not deserve a second chance since they [StarTimes] failed to deliver on the project when it was first given to them in 2012 by the erstwhile Mahama regime.

The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) had earlier questioned government’s decision to hand over the DTT project to the Chinese firm, although K-Net has already built and operating the platform.

Speaking on Anopa Kasapa, Sam George called on the government to rescind its decision in awarding the DTT project to the Chinese firm, stating that it won’t be right for the ministry to engage the services of the Chinese firm since it will amount to mistrust.

“I don’t know who Madam Ursula Owusu Ekuful is working for, whether for Ghana or StarTimes, because if we have appointed her as our minister and she is being paid with our taxes, to protect and put first the interest of the nation, then she must protect the things of the communication ministry” he said.

He added:“To give StarTimes the same contract they failed to execute, for which they sue Ghana and by God`s grace we won the case on three different occasions, it won’t be right for them to have this contract. The Chinese are here to trick us and take away our 200 million dollars which Omane Boamah and madam Marietta Brew fought for us and protected before she[Ursula] came, she is supposed to continue the good work she came to meet” he added.

GIBA argues that the project which aims at protecting broadcasting from interference must not be given to any foreign firm, which also owns a TV network in Ghana.

“They [government] should stop the discussions they are having with StarTimes. Ghanaians are capable of doing whatever project DTT will bring to Ghana. The future of DTT rests in the hands of Ghanaians, and we have enough technology and the know-how,” President of GIBA, Andrew Danso Anninkora said in an interview.