NCA to deactivate and remove active unregistered SIM cards today

All active and unregistered SIM cards are to be deactivated and removed today [May 31] due to a directive from the National Communications Authority (NCA).

The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful announced the commencement of the re-registration of all mobile SIM cards on October 1, 2021, and the exercise was expected to have lasted for a period of six months but was extended several times for tangible challenges faced by SIM card users.

Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia had earlier explained that the re-registration exercise was to rid the country’s cyberspace of fraud, monitor and track down persons who use their phones for criminal activities.

The Vice President’s comments were corroborated by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo-Dampare who said the re-registration exercise by the government had assisted the Service in its operations to clamp down on cybercrime in the country when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on January 20, 2023.

Government on February 14, 2023, disclosed that a total of 25,150,522 SIM cards had been successfully registered in Ghana as of February 9, 2023, and also encouraged the public to comply with the registration timelines.

All unregistered SIM cards were set for deletion on April 17, 2023, but the decision was rescinded after several consultations.

But a day before the final deadline, hundreds of Ghanaians rushed to the National Identification Authority’s Headquarters in Accra in a last-minute attempt to secure a Ghana Card which is mandatory for the re-registration exercise to enable them register their SIM cards to avoid deactivation.