The National Communications Authority (NCA) has refuted claims made by Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament Samuel Nartey George regarding the use of a voter's ID card as a source of identification for SIM card re-registration.

Mr George, on Saturday, November 5, 2022,  posted on his Facebook page that the Minister of Communication and Digitalisation had finally heeded calls to amend the guidelines for the SIM card registration exercise.

According to him, after several deliberations and consultations with stakeholders, the sector minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, directed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to accept voter ID cards as a document for registration.

Mr Sam George touted that “Our struggles have yielded success. We have had a breakthrough. I can reliably inform you that the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation Ghana has finally seen wisdom in our position.”

“They have through the National Communications Authority Ghana directed the MNOs to accept the Voter's ID Card as a document for the registration of our SIM cards. Finally, Ursula Owusu has given in to the power and will of the people. This is our collective victory,” he announced.”

The Ningo-Prampram legislator who has been vocal about his displeasure with the sole documentation of the Ghana card in registering SIM cards, commended Madam Ekuful for amending the guidelines for the process.

However, the NCA, in a sharp rebuttal, noted that Mr Sam George’s account is untrue.

The authority indicated in a statement that the Ghana Card remains the only identification document for the ongoing SIM card registration exercise.

“There is currently no medium for registration with Voter’s ID in the current SIM registration exercise; Ghana Card remains the only ID,” NCA clarified.

What was rather discussed at the technical meeting, according to NCA, was the possible update of the SIM registration app to allow temporary use of voter ID.

NCA noted that “the development effort will take several weeks, if not months, to complete – and the deep dive technical discussions on the integration effort with the MNOs/BWAs have not even been held.”

“A similar effort with passport integration has taken more than three months and counting and still not complete. If necessary, the general public will be duly informed when both integration efforts are complete as well as the modalities and conditions of use,” the NCA explained.

SIM card registration deadline

The SIM re-registration exercise, which commenced in October 2021, was expected to end on July 31, 2022.

However, it was extended to September 30 to allow Ghanaians to link their SIM cards to their Ghana Cards.

The deadline was again extended for the third time [October 31] due to the low number of re-registered SIM cards.

With several complaints about long queues at the premises of network providers,  a self-serving registration app was launched to assist individuals to register in the comfort of their homes at a cost of GH5.

Yet, the numbers of registered SIM cards were not encouraging.

As such, the NCA in September blocked outgoing calls for a sequential batch of numbers for 2 days.

The Ministry in a press conference noted that defaulters of the SIM card registration exercise will be blocked on Sunday, October 31, 2021.

However, after the October 31 deadline, unregistered SIM card holders continue to make and receive calls, as well as enjoy data and SMS services.

Source: The Independent Ghana | Stella Amoyaw