Mixed reactions greet SIM card re-registration extension

A cross-section of residents in Kumasi have expressed mixed reactions to the extension of the deadline for the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card re-registration exercise in the country.

While some are praising the Government for adding another two months to the exercise, others are of the view that it should have ended on July 31, 2022, as scheduled.

Again, some residents are also asking the Government to further extend the additional two months deadline for the re-registration period.

The SIM card registration exercise, which was scheduled to have ended at the close of July this year, was extended for a period of another two months by the Minister for Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, on Sunday, July 31.

This is the second extension of the re-registration exercise, which was started in September 2021.

It was supposed to have ended on March 31, 2022, but the government decided to extend it to July 31, this year to allow for those who had not registered at that time to do so, but many people have still not been able to register their cards.

Some residents that the GNA spoke with said the reason for not being able to re-register their SIM card as to their inability to obtain the Ghana Card, which is the primary document for the re-registration of the SIM card.

Mr Evans Atumfuo, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Mobile Service Operators Association, pleaded with the government to further extend the re-registration period.

He told the Ghana News Agency that a lot of people still did not have their Ghana Card to help them in the re-registration exercise.

Mr Alex Kofi Amponsah, a mobile money vendor, at the Asafo market in Kumasi, said telecommunications companies must visit churches and public places to register people to avoid long queues at registration centres.

House-to-house registration could also help to register senior citizens.

Madam Patience Amoah, a nurse at the Kumasi South Hospital (KSH), also told GNA that, it was good that the time had been extended.

She, however, emphasized the need for more education on the new mobile app to help self-registration.

Ms Florence Afriyie Mensah, a Journalist, was of the view that the exercise should not have been extended further because there would always be some people who would remain adamant about registering their SIM cards.

She said the exercise was meant for nation-building and every Ghanaian must take it seriously.

However, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, announcing the extension of the deadline at a press conference in Accra, said a mobile application was being introduced by the telecommunication operators to enable subscribers to do self-registration.

The SIM card re-registration, according to Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, would help get hold of internet fraudsters and other forms of cybercrimes.