As the re-registration of SIM cards using the Ghana Card to do so, commences today, we recall with derision how the first such exercise was bastardised by some politicians.
At the time they did so the killjoy politicians had no cogent points to support their objection to the project.
Eventually when the envisaged dividends were being realised their hypocrisy became visible.
Today, as the re-registration date is due, we call on all Ghanaians to pick up their Ghana Cards and go through the procedure to have their SIM cards re-registered.
It is a security measure which every responsible government would pursue.
There are always good reasons for such exercises and so it is our hope that this time around the doubts which lingered in the minds of some during the first process will no longer be there.
Our digitisation project as a nation is in full swing and as it does all shades of possible fraud should be eliminated, and what better way than capturing the genuine details of every individual in the country on a common platform.
Those who opposed the first exercise could throw in new tricks to frustrate the process but failure shall be their portion by all means.
Only a few Ghanaians, if at all, are oblivious to the sophistication with which fraudsters use mobile phone details of their targets to dispossess them of the contents of their wallets.
We are aware also of the innovations by the telecommunication companies to outwit the criminals and neutralise them.
These have largely worked and the fraudsters are no longer having field days as they used to do. The usual ‘I have mistakenly posted some money into your wallet’ crap and others are no longer working as much as they used to thanks to the security innovations introduced into the system and still counting.
The tricks used to siphon details of customers of the telecommunication companies and dispossess them of the contents of their wallets are gradually being confined to the dustbin of cyber history.
It is our hope that by the time the amalgamation of SIM details, Ghana Card, National Health Insurance among others is accomplished we would have completely eliminated the fraudsters from the business platforms.
Considering the length of time it takes for information about such exercises to be digested by individuals, we craze the indulgence of the telecommunication companies and related agencies to undertake a massive advertisement campaign. They should also send out agents into the field, workplaces and others so that as many SIM numbers as possible are re-registered before the next year deadline.