Blatant lies and pure fabrications generated by some session of the public and some Members of Parliament on the Minority side indicating that, SIM Cards of persons who are yet to receive their Ghana Card from the National Identification Authority (NIA) have also been blocked in the ongoing blockage of SIM Cards are untrue, Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has said.
“People who did not have Ghana Cards have not had their cards blocked, which have not happened. It is those who have completed the first phase of the exercise by linking their cards to the SIM cards but had not gone on to do the biometric capture that has had their SIM cards blocked” she said on the floor of Parliament on Monday, December 05, 2022.
The Ablekuma West lawmaker was responding to concerns raised by the ranking member of the Communication committee of Parliament A.B.A Fuseini and what she described as other false statements made by the Minority Chief whip of Parliament, Muntaka Mubarak.
She added, “The Ghana card registration exercise started as far back as 2018. Our members on the other side actively campaigned against it and urged their members and Ghanaians to boycott it. So if they had assisted the country to undertake this exercise in the spirit of nationalism at the time, we would probably not find ourselves in this situation.
"So, if the people do not have the Ghana Card and they don't have it because they listened to the other side, we only have ourselves to blame. Now that we have created this problem, let us see how we work together to address the issue. Members on the floor of the house also indicated that they were not going to participate in the SIM registration, including Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak.”
Significance
Government has explained over the period that the SIM registration is intended to reduce fraudulent and criminal activities facilitated by mobile phones or SIM-enabled devices by helping the authorities to ascertain real numbers valid and accurate SIMs on mobile networks.
Madam Ursula has stated that it would also enable operators to build better demographics of their customers and develop products and services to suit various groupings while allowing the NCA to have a more accurate and credible database to regulate the industry better to enhance economic growth.
The Minister has insisted that despite the challenges and certain hiccups the re-registration exercise has suffered, the intended positive objective behind the directive should be the focus while genuine solutions are taken to addresses issue as and when they pop up just like the introduction of the App has been done as solution to the many issues raised.
She explained that the exercise is of a critical national interest, which should be supported by all adding that, it would help law enforcement agencies to identify SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal activities, curb phone theft, hate text messaging, mobile fraud activities, SIM Box fraud, among several other issues confronting the country’s security.
“It will minimize mobile money fraud, promote cybersecurity and support financial inclusion. A credible and reliable SIM register will also serve as a database, giving comprehensive statistics regarding the number of subscribers in the country and provide a resource for tracking fraudsters and criminals” she stated.
