Minister of Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has criticized the reaction of Ghanaians to extensions of SIM card re-registration deadlines.
In an interview with Accra-based Peace FM on August 1, the minister bemoaned the attitude of Ghanaians where they troop to registration centres during the eleventh hour to a deadline but deserted the place once an extension was announced.
The Ablekuma West MP said it was deliberate on the part of some Ghanaians not to reregister their SIM cards despite the numerous extension of deadlines.
“Before the 21st March that we announced the extension, the was queue everywhere you go at the network operators places. NIA opened offices that were registering people for Ghana Card. When we announced the extension, everybody went back to sleep. Till when will we continue with this? Until last week, the was no queue anywhere. We are all witnesses to it. How long must that continue?
“Some have made up their minds that if given 10 years to do the reregistration, they will wait until the last minute. We have done this one as a conditional extension. We will review it in August. Today (August 1), there is no queue at the centres. Everybody has gone to sleep. We will wait till September ending and come and say ‘Ursula, extending it again’ meaning it is deliberate,” she said.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful added that the current conditional extension of the deadline will be reviewed in August where anyone who has failed to register by then will find it more expensive in using the unregistered SIM.
Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful