According to Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalization, those who have completed stage 1 of the SIM card re-registration are granted 10 additional days to finish the procedure in order to prevent disconnection.
She stated that starting on Thursday, November 17, 2022, punitive actions would be implemented for those who, for their own reasons, have refused to finish stage 2 of the exercise.
She says that these people have no reason to stop carrying out the procedure they have already begun, noting that the National Identification Authority has already given them their separate Ghana Cards.
She said that the project, which is meant to lessen fraudulent and illegal acts made possible by mobile phones or SIM-enabled gadgets, is hampered by people who refuse to finish the procedure out of a lack of real concern.
"Despite the opportunity given to those who have done stage 1 of the exercise to complete their registration, they have failed to do so. This implies they do not intend to do so; their SIMS will be blocked in 10 days. We will make a further announcement of steps being taken to complete this exercise in due course" she made this known in a social media post.
She continued by saying that the administration is working to create an atmosphere that would allow everyone to have access to and use the digitalization agenda effectively.
Over time, Madam Ursula has also stated that the initiative would allow operators to develop more accurate customer demographics and create goods and services tailored to different demographic groups while giving the National Communications Authority (NCA) access to a more reliable and trustworthy database to better regulate the industry and promote economic growth.
She said that everyone should support the exercise because it serves a vital national interest and would help law enforcement agencies identify SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal purposes, stop phone theft, hate texting, mobile fraud activities, SIM Box fraud, and other security-related issues.
"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.
