Re-registering all SIM cards before Sept. 30 'technically, physically impossible' – NIA

The Executive Secretary to the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof Ken Attafuah, has said his office has “actively” engaged both the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, about the fact that it is “impossible” for the Authority to register all eligible persons for the Ghana card – the sole document for the re-registration of SIM cards – before the September 30 deadline.

So far, there are about two million eligible persons left to be registered for the Ghana card.

Prof Attafuah told journalists at a press briefing on Friday, 16 September 2022 that “there is no way that NIA can register those people before the deadline.

“It is technically, physically impossible,” he noted.

“We had said way back in March that it was impossible”, stressed Prof Attafuah.

“I have said it is like expecting a maiden to make a baby every three months,” he illustrated.

“That is not how the physical and logistical system has been designed to respond. We cannot do that.”

He, however, noted that: “It is not for NIA to proffer advice on that [SIM registration deadline] as it falls outside its mandate”.

“However, I can say on authority that we have engaged actively with the National Communications Authority, and with the Minister [of Communications and Digitalisation] since last year.”

All unregistered SIMs will be blocked after the 30 September deadline.