The National Communications Authority (NCA) has disclosed that it will extend the deadline for the ongoing SIM card re-registration if it becomes necessary.
The national exercise commenced on October 1, 2021, and is expected to end on March 31, 2022.
However, long queues being recorded at the various mobile network service centres across the country appears to be hampering the process as many Ghanaians rush to meet the deadline set for re-registering SIM cards.
The situation has led to many people raising concerns about the process. Some have requested for an extension of the March 2022 deadline over fears that the slow pace of the process will prevent many people from being registered.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Class FM, the Authority’s Director of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Nana Defie Badu said the ongoing process is being monitored and the NCA will ensure that adequate time is given for the process.
She explained that the NCA has no interest in deliberately preventing citizens from registering their SIM cards and that no one will be deprived of the opportunity to register their SIM cards.
“For the NCA and the Ministry of Communication, one of the objectives of this is exercise is not to deprive people of using communication service. We want to make sure that people are using the communication services in a secure manner. We continue to monitor the process [and] if it gets to the stage where we have to extend the deadline, we will, because communication access is very critical for our development,” she said.
The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, during a Press Briefing at the Ministry of Information’s Press Center on 5th September 2021, explained that:
“The SIM registration, when undertaken correctly as we intend to do, will reduce or eliminate fraudulent and criminal activities, help authorities ascertain the accurate number of valid and accurate SIMs on the networks, enable operators to build better demographics of their customer base and help them develop products and services to suit the various groupings”.
She stressed that SIM Registration will enhance economic growth as more confidence is built in the telecommunications sector and people utilize secure devices to access E-Government services and other private mobile-based digital solutions. “It will minimize mobile money fraud and support financial inclusion across the vulnerable sectors” Minister added.
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