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Owners of over 13.7 million SIM cards boycotted re-registration

 


More than one year after the commencement of SIM re-registration, owners of over 13.7 million SIM cards had made no attempt to re-register their SIMs as at end of September 2022.

This represents 32.72% of the 42.7 million total SIM cards issued in the country so far.

A statement from the Minister of Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said a little over 28.9 million SIM cards have been linked to Ghana cards, out of which 18.9 million have completed registration through the bio data capture process, and the remaining 10 million are yet to complete registration.

So in total, there are a little over 23.8 million SIM cards that are at risk of being blocked. They comprise of about 13.8 million completely unregistered SIMs and a little over 10 million partially registered ones.

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said all SIM cards not fully registered will be blocked “progressively” beginning from the end of this month, including the 10 million partially registered ones.

She said the October ending date is not an extension but a moratorium to encourage owners of those SIM cards, particularly the 10 million partially registered ones, to complete the process, advising that if they have any peculiar challenges, they should contact the National Communications Authority (NCA) for assistance.

… 14 million Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians can sleep safely, comforted by the fact that their 18.8 million SIM cards are safe and secure. We have made good progress, and this is a collective gain that we must celebrate,” the statement said.

Data-only SIM cards 

The Minister said all data-only SIMS, including those issued by Surfline, Busy Internet, Telesol, and any institutions such as Electricity Company of Ghana, have up to the end of November to complete registration.

She cautioned those who had registered more than 10 SIM Cards for personal use to delink the extra SIM cards immediately because any excess over the individual limit of 10 per person would be removed from the database and blocked.

The Minister said NCA had been directed to conduct mystery shopping and enforce the law against vendors will sell pre-registered SIM cards to customers, adding that, persons found guilty could be imprisoned for up to five years.

She said the NCA is in discussions with the National Identification Authority (NIA) on registered amputees and other categories of persons, adding that provisions made earlier for SIM cards active outside Ghana and diplomats still stands.

The Minister said the Ministry would continue to engage the NIA to expedite the issuance of Ghana cards so that others would get theirs to register their SIMs.

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