The Minister for Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has warned that the deadline for the registration of SIM cards in Ghana, will not be extended for a second time.
The exercise which began on 1st October 2021, was originally scheduled to end on 31st March 2022 but was extended by the sector Ministry to 31st July 2022, due to the fact that over 7.5 million citizens and residents at the time, were yet to obtain their Ghana Card, to enable them register their SIM cards.
According to the Minister, over, 12 million Ghanaians have so far linked their Ghana cards to their SIM cards.
Speaking at a forum by the National Communications Authority (NCA) in Kumasi, she stated that the exercise will ultimately help build a credible and safe SIM card database in Ghana.
“Most people access their internet through their mobile devices. We must make sure that they do so safely. We must make it difficult for the criminals who hack our systems and defraud us through multiple online channels to operate, and this SIM registration exercise is one of the steps the government is taking in that regard. Essentially, this stresses the point that this exercise will enable the establishment of a subscriber database with integrity to keep the consumers safe from scams and fraud.”
“I, therefore, take this opportunity to urge all those who’ve not registered their SIM cards to do so as the deadline of 31st July 2022 will not be extended,” she added.
Meanwhile, millions of SIM cards remain unregistered with Ghana Card simply because the owners of those SIM card still don’t have Ghana Card yet. Some have registered but are yet to get their Ghana Card, while others keep joining queues at the various registration outlets but are yet to be registered.
In the meantime, all the telcos in the country have instituted various strategies to whip up SIM registration as the deadline approaches. Vodafone in particular is offering free 1GB data and 100 minutes of airtime to people who register between now and July 31, while MTN has beefed up registration outlets, including digital channels and door to door to make it easier for customers to register.
Meanwhile, several banks in the country have also provided digital channels via which customers can regularize their account details with the Ghana Card.
