Ursula Owusu-Ekuful
BEGINNING from January 2020, there will be the re-registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card in Ghana, Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said.
According to her, the ministry has consulted all relevant stakeholders on the move and that the exercise will commence on January 1.
She warned that any SIM card which is not registered would be deactivated by June 2020, giving a six-month time frame for this exercise.
She has, therefore, entreated all citizens, residents and visitors to co-operate to ensure the success of the re-registration exercise.
Ghana enacted the SIM Registration Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 2006) primarily to reduce mobile phone related crimes such as prank calls, cybercrime, mobile money fraud, among others.
It is also intended to help the law enforcement agencies to identify SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal activities, curb incidents such as phone theft, hate text messages, mobile fraud activities, inciting violence and to combat crimes such as SIM Box fraud.
“SIM registration also enables subscribers to be properly identified for the use of value-added services such as mobile banking, mobile money and electronic payment services,” she said.
She noted that due to the crucial nature of SIM registration and its security implications for the country, mobile network operators were required to ensure SIMs were registered properly before activation on the mobile network to avoid inconsistencies and fake subscriber identity.
Even though SIM registration regulations are in place, she noted, they are not being enforced due to the lack of an acceptable fake-proof-identification card and non existence of verification by a national database to ensure the traceability of the individual who registered the SIM card.
Currently, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful observed “there is no solution in place to integrate all the databases of card issuing agencies for the seamless verification of IDs used for registration of SIMs to be effectively conducted.”
In addition to this, the Ministry of Communications had noted other deficiencies of the existing SIM card registration regime in Ghana including the sale of pre-registered SIM cards, the use of pre-registered SIM cards and fraudulent registration of SIM cards, she said.
BY Melvin Tarlue