Measures to punish persons who haven’t registered their SIM cards will be announced soon – Ursula Owusu

The minister intimated that registration of SIMs cards is a very critical part of protecting Ghanaians from cybercrimes but some persons have intentionally chosen not to take part in the exercise even though they have the Ghana Card which is needed for the registration, citinewsroom.com reports.

She added that her ministry and the appropriate agencies are working with the National Identification Authority (NIA) to ensure that the issues of persons with genuine challenges are resolved.

However, people who have deliberately chosen not to register their cards will face consequences.

“We all need to ensure that we protect the systems that we are putting in place. This is one aspect of it, but the SIM re-registration is also another aspect of it. There are some who have genuine concerns, and we are working with the NIA to [address them].

“But there are others who have the Ghana cards but have not completed the process. So clearly, either they do not intend to, or are unwilling to, so we will have some measures to announce in due course soon,” the Minister is quoted to have said at the side-lines of the Technology Breakfast Meeting in Accra.

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful earlier announced that persons who have linked their Ghana Cards to their SIM Cards but have not proceeded to fully reregister their SIM will lose data and voice services at the end of October 2022 if they fail to complete the process.

She also indicated that persons who have not begun the process at all will have their unregistered SIM cards ‘progressively’ blocked as well.

In a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, the sector minister clarified that the grace period granted to persons who have linked their Ghana Card to their SIM in the reregistration process was not an extension of the September 30 deadline but a moratorium to serve as encouragement for them to regularize the registration.

“All SIM Cards that have been linked to Ghana Cards (i.e. completed Stage 1 registration), but have not completed their Stage 2 registration will be blocked from the end of October.

“This is not an extension of the deadline but a temporary moratorium to encourage these individuals to complete the process. If they have any peculiar challenges, they should contact the NCA.

“These good people have the Ghana card, have started the process and will be encouraged to complete it with this gentle reminder. All other unregistered SIMs will also be blocked progressively,” part of the statement read.

IB/SARA