Whether the sale and purchase agreement of 70% of the state-owned Ghana Telecom is ratified by Parliament or not, the agitation around it will remain in the minds of Ghanaians for years to come. It will remain a test-case of how not to sell a strategic public asset without consultation of the people.

The NCA is an agency of the government with oversight to, in effect, regulate the telecommunications sector and implement terms of Ghana’s National Telecommunications Policy. According to the policy (2004) that can be downloaded from the Internet, while the Ministry of Communications is “responsible for the definition and elaboration of Government policy regarding telecommunications”, the [...]

The 70% acquisition by Vodafone of state-owned Ghana Telecom may be a done-and-dusted deal, subject only now to parliamentary approval in the august house. There are, however, serious issues arising that merit some consideration.
First of all, one would have to be from Mars not to know that this is an election year. After the announcement [...]