About eight million Ghanaians are likely to have their SIM cards disconnected by March 10, 2023, if they have not completed their SIM card registration, accordingto a statement by the National Communications Authority (NCA) issued on Monday, February 27, 2023.

The disconnection will be in line with a directive issued by the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, on November 30, 2022.

“The National Communications Authority (NCA) wishes to remind subscribers who have completed stage one (1) but not stage two (2) of their SIM registration, as part of the ongoing SIM registration exercise, to immediately do so or risk having their SIMs disconnected after 10th March 2023,” said the NCA statement.

On February 9, 2023, the Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, revealed in Parliament that the total number of people who had completed stage 1 of the registration, i.e., linking their Ghana Card to their SIMs, was 33,793,132, representing 79.60% of the total number of SIM cards in Ghana.

The number of unregistered SIM cards, i.e., those who had not attempted to link their Ghana Card to their SIMs, was 8,658,164, representing 20.40%.

The number of people who had completed the process of SIM registration, i.e., stage 2 (Biometric Capture), was 25,150,522, representing 59.25%, and the number of unregistered SIM cards under stage 2 was 17,300,774, representing 40.75%.

According to the NCA, there have been additional subscribers who have completed stage one of the registration process but are yet to conclude with the final stage.

The statement also noted that subscribers who begin the registration process (stage 1) and fail to complete their registration within a period of 2 weeks will have their SIM cards deactivated from their networks.

The NCA urged subscribers who are in the stage 2 process to complete registration by March 10, 2023.

The Communications Authority also highlighted the importance of the SIM card registration exercise, stating that it is aimed at developing and building a SIM database with integrity, which will assist in curbing fraudulent activities.

“To reiterate, the importance of the SIM card registration exercise is to develop and build a SIM database with integrity, which will assist in curbing fraudulent activities.

The NCA continues to urge all subscribers to complete their SIM card registrations with their Ghana Cards to avoid deactivation,” the statement added.

The NCA began the re-registration of SIM cards in October 2021 across the country to develop and build a SIM database with integrity, which will assist in curbing fraudulent activities.