The Minister for Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has extended Sim Re-registration to September 30, 2022.
On Friday, July 22, she made an appeal to everyone who hasn’t reregistered their cards to do so before the deadline while speaking at a forum in Kumasi.
Her announcement compelled Ghanaian to abandon their works to cue at National Identification Authority, NIA centres across the country for a process that was barely available.
Addressing a meet the press briefing in Accra, she claimed that after hearing from several parties, including telecom providers, she reluctantly agreed to the request to extend the deadline.
“The NIA has not been able to provide the Ghana Card to all eligible citizens. The Ghana Card has been registered for by 16,969,034 people as of Thursday, July 21, 2022, and approximately 16,535,623 cards have been printed. While 832,904 cards have not been distributed or collected, 15,702,719 have been issued.
Regarding Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Registrations, she stated, “The BWAs only recently started registration a week ago and as of Friday, July 29, had only been able to register roughly 2% of their users. According to my information, many SIMS that solely work with data have also not been registered because their owners were unaware that they too required to be registered.
The registration of residents was challenging and slowed down significantly in Bawku and its surroundings due to the security situation. Additionally, I’ve been told that some customers who took out short loans from their service providers have chosen not to register those SIM cards in an effort to avoid paying back the debts. You will be exposed for your evil corruption.
“In order to carry out this exercise successfully, the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), the National Communications Authority (NCA), and—dare I say it—the NIA, have all hired additional people, acquired the required logistics, and are incurring enormous costs. Any process expansion raises the price of the process. In light of the difficulties listed above and after consulting with the industry, I have very reluctantly agreed to grant a final conditional extension.
“The program will continue through September 30 in order to terminate on the anniversary of its start. We’ll have a full year of SIM registration after that. Any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be prohibited from obtaining certain services, including phone and data services, when it is evaluated at the end of this month.
The cost of using unregistered SIMs will also increase. The whole list of sanctions will be revealed at a subsequent press conference in September. Please do not hold the service provider responsible if you suffer that outcome as a result of your own inaction. Being prepared means being forewarned.
“Before I sign off, I must remind everyone here that even though we work together, the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization does not supervise the National Identification Authority. In some circles, especially this past week because of Ghana card difficulties that I had nothing to do with, my unfortunate self has been roundly demonized. Please contact Prof. Ken Attafuah and his sector minister, Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, if you have any questions about the Ghana card. I’m firmly remaining in my lane.
Recall that her former deputy George Andah had previously urged that the deadline be extended, but only under very specific circumstances.
He stated that individuals who are unable to properly re-register by the deadline of July 31 may have to forgo some telecom services, such as the inability to send messages or make or receive calls, until they have fully re-registered.
On Saturday, July 30, the former representative for Awutu Senya West said on the Key Points on TV3 that there are some people who have chosen not to participate in the exercise and further advised that such people, if feasible, should be found and yanked.
However, the others who genuinely worry about not being able to re-register ought to be given another chance to do so, albeit under strict restrictions.
He also urged all Ghanaians to approach the activity from a nationalistic perspective.
“No one is unsympathetic to the difficulties the people are facing to do this. We should put partisanship aside and consider it from a nationalistic perspective, or from what is beneficial for the country, he continued.
Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful already gave notice that the deadline is still July 31. It was previously moved up from March 31 to July 31.
“It will take more time to upgrade the SIM Registration App for diplomat registration, but a Self-Service SIM Registration App is also being developed to make it easier for Ghanaians living overseas to register their SIM cards.
