The Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation (MoCD) will engage and consult with key stakeholders as well as all telecommunications companies to determine whether or not to extend the recent SIM card registration exercise. With only less than 48 hours until the second deadline, which was extended from March 31 to July 31, 2022, some Ghanaians are still calling for an extension, possibly until the end of the year.
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful, speaking to the B&FT on the sidelines of the launch of the Tertiary Digital Innovation Programme to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Ghana Digital Centres (GDCL) in Accra, said: "We'll engage all stakeholders and all telecom companies on the matter." The deadline remains unchanged until then.
According to current NIA data, slightly more than 16 million people have registered for the Ghana Card, an access card that allows SIM card registration. According to the data, it appears that more people have yet to register their SIM cards, despite the fact that the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications reports that more than 30 million phone gadgets are in use in Ghana.
The Minority Group in Parliament has requested that President Akufo-Addo direct the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, to extend the deadline for SIM card re-registration. At a press conference in Parliament on Thursday, Sam George, Deputy Ranking Member on the Communications Committee, explained that the July 31 deadline "holds potential national security implications for millions of Ghanaians who have not been able to register, through no fault of their own." "We urge the President and the National Security Minister to recognise that millions of Ghanaians earn a living on a daily basis by using their SIM cards," he added.
Although their calls have not been answered, Mr. George stated that "we would resist, using all lawful methods at our disposal, any attempt to deprive our citizens and constituents of the use of their SIM cards beginning August 1st as a result of this malicious, ill-intended, capricious, obnoxious, atrocious, and whimsical directive of the Minister of Communications and Digitalization."
The group also urged the National Communications Authority to demonstrate their competence and technical abilities by notifying the sector minister of her actions' impropriety.
The Ningo-Prampram MP went on to assure the telecom companies that the Minority will "continue to use all means available to us and Parliament to ensure that their operations are not harmed by poor policy decisions taken by persons at the highest levels of government."
Another legitimate reason the deadline is not feasible is that several people have registered for the Ghana Card but the NIA has not yet delivered the cards to them, resulting in a massive backlog. For example, people who registered for the Ghana Card on July 4, 2022 are still waiting to receive their cards. Others registered months ago but have yet to receive their cards. Some have also been queuing at registration centres on a daily basis but have never been registered.
Experts have therefore suggested that the government postpone the deadline until there are no longer any queues at Ghana Card registration centres, at which point they will be able to identify those who are purposefully refusing to register. However, it appears that people go to the centres and queue, but they do not receive their cards.
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