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The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has stated that individuals whose SIM cards have been deactivated due to lack of a legitimate Ghana Card should contact the National Communication Authority (NCA) for a solution. She emphasized that affected users must provide evidence to support their claims.
Owusu-Ekuful assured that individuals who have not registered their SIMs but can provide proof of having applied for a Ghana Card to the NCA will be exempted from the re-registration process. Additionally, subscribers who are abroad are also exempted from the exercise but are required to register their SIM cards with their passports.
If subscribers outside the country activate roaming on their devices, mobile network operators (MNOs) can identify their location. The NCA has directed that SIM cards detected to be outside the country for more than six months should be temporarily exempted until the subscribers can complete their registration.
In cases where subscribers outside the country encounter difficulties registering their SIM cards, they are advised to contact the NCA for assistance via email.
The Minister’s comments come as over 9 million SIM cards have been deactivated due to users failing to re-register their SIM cards. In a statement to parliament, Owusu-Ekuful explained that the government had to take a firm stance to demonstrate the importance of the SIM registration exercise. Even if the registration deadline were extended, there would still be individuals who would not comply.
The Minister noted that the NCA has been monitoring customer care centers at mobile network operators and has observed instances where individuals with Ghana Cards have refused to register their SIM cards.
However, Ningo Prampram MP Sam George, a strong critic of the process, accused the Minister of violating laws regarding the blocking of SIM cards. He claimed that the NCA and the mobile network operators had not obtained proper authorization from the National Identification Authority (NIA) for the portable readers they are using, as required by LI (211) since December 2022.
Meanwhile, former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu stated that some of the challenges faced during the exercise could have been avoided if there had been a better relationship between the NCA and the NIA, the institution responsible for issuing the Ghana Card, which serves as the sole identity document for registration purposes.
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Source: Omanghana.com
