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Claim: A Facebook user, Keskine Owusu Poku, claimed that data prices in Ghana would increase by 10% on July 1, 2025.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s probe showed that data prices in Ghana would not increase by 10% on July 1, 2025, as Keskine alleged. Instead, the country’s Communications Minister, Samuel George, said data bundles would increase across all networks by 10% and 15% from the stated date.
Full Text
A social media user, Keskine Owusu Poku, has alleged that data costs in Ghana would increase by 10% on July 1, 2025.
Keskine made the Facebook post a few minutes after the country’s Communications Minister, Samuel George, said the government has agreed to allow telecommunication companies to increase their data bundles for a lesser fee on June 10, 2025.
“This guy [Communications Minister] made the world believe his predecessor was in bed with the telcos. In just 5 months, he will be getting sponsorship for his foundation from MTN, and the already costly data charges in Ghana will increase by 10% starting July 01, 2025,” he wrote.
A screenshot of Keskine’s deleted Facebook post on the data cost increment in Ghana
Keskine’s claim was repeated by a pro-opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Facebook page, NPP Project Bureau.
Although DUBAWA’s recent visit to the social media users’ accounts showed that they had deleted their posts, screenshots are available online, such as here, here, here, and here.
One social media user, Hon Kala Bammia Ali, commenting on a screenshot of Keskine’s post, wrote:
“Keskine Owusu Poku, I shy give you. Was this what Hon. Samuel Nartey George said, or that’s your understanding of what he said? This is so “off the goal posts.” The increment is in line with data and not an increase in the cost of data.”
DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim due to its widespread social media traction in the country.
Verification
DUBAWA’s research showed that data costs in Ghana would not increase by 10% on July 1, 2025, as the social media user alleged.
Instead, the country’s Communications Minister, Samuel George, said data bundles would increase across all networks by 10% and 15% from the stated date.
While two telecommunication companies, AirtelTigo and Telecel, will increase their data bundles by 10%, telco giant MTN will increase its data bundles by 15%.
Currently, GH₵ 100 worth of data on AirtelTigo will entitle the purchaser to a 195 GB data bundle. However, with the 10% increment, the user will now be entitled to a 236 GB data bundle.
Also, on Telecel, GH₵ 400 entitles the purchase to a 90 GB data bundle. When the 10% increment is applied, the purchaser will enjoy a 250 GB data bundle for the same amount purchased.
Similarly, GH₵ 350 worth of data on MTN entitles the purchaser to a 92.88 GB data bundle. However, when the 15% increment is applied, the user will enjoy a 214 GB data bundle for GHS 399.
In some instances, the country’s Communication Minister’s announcement amounts to restoring the telcos’ previous data packages, which were revised following the previous government’s directive.
When DUBAWA visited Keskine’s Facebook account, he deleted the post. The NPP Project Bureau also deleted its post on the alleged increase in data costs.
Conclusion
Ghana’s government announced an increase in data bundles, not data prices, by 10% and 15% on July 1, 2025.
