Fix Ghanacard delays, extend SIM Card registration

Last year, the government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization, gave a directive that all Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards should be reregistered over a six-month period spanning October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 using the Ghanacard.

The deadline was extended to this Sunday, July 31, 2022.

That is to synchronize the details on one’s Ghana Card, a national identification card, with those used for the SIM registration to avoid the situation where some unscrupulous persons acquire a number SIM cards using different unverified details so they can avoid being found out when they perpetrate crime.

The initiative is, therefore, meant to stem the increasing incidents of fraud using the phone and also to monitor and track down persons who will use their phones for all manner of criminal activities.

As the deadline approaches, long queues and chaos greeted the hundreds of desperate Ghanaians who trooped to the National Identification Authority’s (NIA) headquarters in Accra to acquire their Ghana cards before the Ministry of Communications’ deadline for SIM card registration, which expires on Sunday.

Also, offices of telecommunication companies are also streaming with people anxious to beat the Sunday deadline.

It is now commonplace to see people in long queues at the various telecommunication offices and centres struggling to have their SIM cards reregistered.

Data from the National Identification Authority (NIA) indicates that, as at July 21, 2022, about 800,000 Ghanaians are yet to receive or pick up their printed cards while several others had their cards misplaced or errors on the spelling of their names.

Out of a total number of 41.6 million (41,685,575) mobile subscriptions, 23.1 million (23,184,601) SIM cards have been successfully linked to the Ghana Card of which 14.1 million (14,102,670) completed the re-registration as at June 29, 2022.

Clearly, many people do not have Ghanacard through no fault of their own, while others have lost their cards and are now going through the process of replacing them.

Even some people who registered during the mass registration exercise in 2019 are yet to receive their cards.

Meanwhile, Ghanacard is the only identification card accepted for the SIM reregistration and fresh registration.

An extension will allow the majority of Ghanaians acquire the necessary logistics such as Ghanacard to enable them to register their sim cards.

The use of mobile phone has become an integral part of everyday lives.

Its usefulness is enormous and has become a great source of livelihood for most Ghanaians.

Disabling the sim cards of Ghanaians because they could not register will deprive them of their source of livelihood.

Also, government risks losing huge amount of revenue from the Electronic Transactions Levy (e-levy) from customers should the deadline be enforced.

Under such a circumstance, extending the period will help to save subscribers all the hassles and get them all captured so that the full benefits of the SIM re-registration exercise can be realized.