Ursula Owusu, the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation has warned that any SIM card that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from receiving certain services, including voice and data.
Adding that it would be more costly to use unregistered SIMs, the Minister said the programme for the re-registration of SIMs had been extended to 30th September to end on the anniversary of its commencement, one full year of SIM registration.
“It will be reviewed at the end of this month and the full range of punitive measures will be announced in September. Do not blame your service provider when you suffer that fate due to your inaction,” Ursula Owusu said at a presser on Sunday,
The minister added that she reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension for the re-registration of all SIMs by customers using only the Ghana card.
The two months extension came, given the daily hustle and bustle and restlessness of thousands of mobile network subscribers who, as of the 31st of July deadline, had either not been able to register to acquire the Ghana card or had, though registered, but yet to receive it.
Giving an update on the exercise, which deadline is being extended for the second time, after the initial March 31, 2022 deadline, the Minister explained that the extension was granted to enable over 7.5 million Ghanaians and residents who had not obtained their Ghana Cards at the time to register their SIM.
“It was also to allow us to provide modalities for the registration of diplomats and complete processes for rolling out a Self-Service SIM Registration App, to facilitate the registration of SIM cards for both residents and Ghanaians living outside the country,” she clarified.
“As of 20th July 2022, the total number of Voice SIMs stood at 41, 979,398. Out of this number 15,395,607 have linked their Ghana Card to their SIM cards.
“The National Registration Details, as of 28th July 2022: Stage 2 Registrations as of 20th July 2022…16,059,350, representing 38%; Stage 2 Unregistered SIMs of 20th July 2022…26,062,571, representing 62%,” Ursula Owusu presented as the current SIM registration statistics.
Describing the question of the deadline as irritating, Ursula Owusu said: “The statistics indicate that there was a 90% drop in SIM registration as soon as the first deadline was extended on 31st March.
Until a week ago, there were no queues at any registration centre. People started rushing to register when they realised the deadline was imminent after going to sleep when it was extended. About 50% of those who have completed the first stage of the process have not concluded the second stage. They have linked their SIMS to the Ghana card so that cannot be attributed to Ghana card challenges.
“I have also been informed that some people who have obtained quick loans from their service providers have decided not to register those SIMs to avoid repaying the loans. That is evil corruption and you will be found out.
“The MNOs and the NCA have all engaged additional staff, procured the necessary logistics and are incurring significant expenses to conduct this exercise successfully. Any extension of the process increases their cost. Upon consultation with the industry and given the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension.”
That notwithstanding, she explained the self-service SIM registration App, Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) registrations and delays in the issuance of Ghana Card as the challenges the SIM re-registration exercise encountered.
On the delays in the issuance of the Ghana Card, the Minister explained that the NIA had not been able to issue all eligible persons with the Ghana Card.
“As of Thursday, July 21, 2022, 16,969,034 individuals have registered for the Ghana Card, with about 16,535,623 cards printed.
15,702,719 cards have been issued whereas some 832,904 cards have not been distributed or collected,” she noted.
Going forward, she said “The SIM Registration App will be available for download on both android and IOS this week barring any unforeseen circumstances. Each registration via the app will be subject to a GHc5 surcharge.
“Non-resident Ghanaians who do not have the Ghana card can use their passports to complete the process, but will be required to update their details with the Ghana card once they acquire it. They have up to December 2022 to do so.
“Ghanaians on official assignment outside the country or students on scholarships who cannot acquire the Ghana card by December should contact the NCA. Special provision has already been made for members of the diplomatic corps in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and they have been notified.
“It has come to my knowledge that amputees and others who have some physical challenges are also a category of persons that are having problems registering their SIMs. We will have discussions with the NIA to resolve them.
“All visitors to Ghana can now acquire SIMS with their passports and I encourage the Airport Authority to work with MNOs to provide adequate venues for the acquisition of SIMS at the airport these will be valid for three months and if they want to use them for a longer period, they must acquire a non-citizen ID card to validate their SIMs. MNOS must provide their systems to send notifications to this category of SIMs.”
