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The Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, is scheduled to come before Parliament today, June 8, and it is anticipated that she will present information about the drawn-out SIM card re-registration process.
Following the May 31 deadline, approximately 8 million subscribers, including well-known individuals like Speaker of the Parliament Alban Bagbin, had their SIM cards deactivated.
Sam Nartey George, a member of parliament for Ningo-Prampram, expressed grave concern on the floor of the legislature while highlighting the serious repercussions suffered by people whose SIM cards were rendered inactive as a result of the National Identification Authority’s delay in releasing Ghana Cards.
“People’s livelihoods have been affected, and people’s mobile monies have been stuck on their cards. It is important that this House takes into consideration that the National Identification Authority has failed to issue any Ghanaian citizen a Ghana Card in any district office in December 2022, so it is not the fault of any Ghanaian that they have not been able to register their SIM card,” expressed MP Sam Nartey George.
The SIM card registration campaign was previously planned to start on October 1 of 2021 and end on March 31, 2022.
The only document needed to complete the registration process is the National Identification Card, also known as the Ghana Card.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) did, however, repeatedly extend the registration deadline until May 31, 2023, which was specifically stated as the final deadline, due to difficulties encountered in getting the Ghana Card.
Alarming data reveals that a startling 7.4 million mobile money accounts that held GH200 million in total were not registered and subsequently deactivated.
The upcoming parliamentary inquiry will ask Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful for clarifications regarding the SIM card re-registration process in an effort to clarify the circumstances surrounding the delayed issuance of Ghana Cards and address the significant effects they have had on the affected people and the economy as a whole.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
