Ing Kenneth Ashigbey
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has denied the contents of a letter being circulated on social media to the effect that it does support the ongoing SIM registration exercise.
It states in a release that it fully supports the SIM card registration in the country and does not in any way contest the mandate of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD) or the National Communications Authority (NCA) to implement SIM card registration in accordance with law.
The Authority’s position does not reflect the contents of the said letter in circulation. “Indeed, NIA has fully co-operated, in good faith and to the best of its abilities, with the MoCD and the NCA.”
It adds that “for the avoidance of doubt, NIA reiterates its ardent support for SIM card registration in this country as an important Government policy. The NIA greatly values inter-agency co-operation and collaboration for the attainment of Government’s development policies and programmes.”
To this end, it has successfully co-operated, within the framework of the law and public policy, with other user agencies such as SSNIT, NHIA, GRA and the Controller & Accountant-General’s Department in advancing data harmonisation and integration in this country, and will continue to do so with the NCA and other state institutions. The leaked letter of September 13, 2021 currently in circulation was written more than four months ago and should not be seen as having been written in January 2022; it should also not be construed as constituting an attack on the importance of the ongoing SIM card registration exercise, the NIA stated.
“It is regrettable that official correspondence between two institutions would be leaked and used for improper purposes,” the NIA stressed
The NIA condemns such conduct which undermines public trust and dissipates the energies of public officials.
The doctored letter, the NIA noted, has triggered multiple interpretations, intentions and motives and therefore creating confusion among the public and with that criticisms.
The original letter signed by Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, is bereft of obliterations, blotting or cancellations, and was a response to a correspondence from the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT), Dr. Ing Kenneth Ashigbey, the Authority’s reaction noted.
The GCT sought three technical clarifications from the NIA “on the potential interface between the National Identification System (NIS) and the planned SIM registration exercise scheduled to commence on October 1, 2021.”
In NIA’s response of September 13, 2021, the Executive Secretary of NIA addressed himself solely to the technical questions posed by the GCT.
The NIA, the reaction states, “stands by every statement contained in its response letter of September 13, 2021 as being technically factual, accurate, correct and honest. The letter was duly copied to the Hon. Minister for the Interior who is the Minister responsible for the NIS, the Hon. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, and the Executive Chairman of Identity Management Systems II Limited (IMS II).”
By A.R. Gomda