Government orders re-run of SIM registration
The government has asked mobile telecommunication firms to start the exercise of registering Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards afresh.
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The Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, who announced this, said the current scheme was fraught with irregularities and fraudulent activities.
He said fake identity cards had been used to register many SIM cards, undermining the purpose for which the entire exercise was undertaken.
He said telecom firms in the country must “candidly” re-run the SIM card registration exercise to help enhance security in the country.
“We definitely need to provide confidence and security in the use of electronic communications in Ghana.
“You would recall the police report of 2,340,000 prank calls made to the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service in 2013. This is surely not the right use of the opportunities we are blessed with,” he said.
A national SIM card registration exercise was first carried out in 2011, but the National Communications Authority (NCA) subsequently announced that 20 per cent of particulars used in the registration exercise were fake.
Parliament in 2012 adopted the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 2006) to give backing to the exercise.
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The Legislation provided that with effect from Saturday, March 3, 2012, no SIM card could be used if not duly registered.
Ghana currently has about 28 million subscribers.