The next government led by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will launch a new SIM re-registration exercise, according to the Minority in Parliament.
They made this statement in reaction to the current government’s initiative to re-register SIM cards using the Ghana Card, which started on October 1, 2021. The main objective of this initiative is to curb fraud and track criminals who use their phones for illegal activities.
Ghanaians have been directed to re-register their SIM cards with their Ghana Cards or risk having their SIM cards deactivated after May 31, 2023, which is the final deadline.
However, the Minority has raised doubts about the effectiveness and convenience of the current re-registration process. Samuel Nartey George, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Communications Committee of Parliament, said that the NDC government will implement a better and easier SIM re-registration exercise in the future.
“They are not using this to fight crime, because the Ghana Card is fundamentally flawed. That is why we have given notice that the next NDC government will do a proper re-registration of SIM Cards that will not require you to queue in telecom offices, but we will do a proper re-registration of SIM Cards.”
In other news, the Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has stated that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are collaborating with the Bank of Ghana to help subscribers retrieve their money from mobile money accounts.
Many subscribers have complained about being unable to access their money on mobile money accounts after their SIM cards were deactivated for not re-registering them.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful updated Parliament on the progress of the SIM re-registration exercise on Thursday, June 8. She assured affected subscribers that they will be able to recover their money through the appropriate channels, even though they cannot use their deactivated SIMs for mobile-related transactions.
“We continue to urge the National Identification Authority (NIA) to help people get their Ghana Card. We have also been informed of the challenges facing subscribers in accessing their money on their mobile money wallets.”
