NCA hints at extending SIM re-registration deadline

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There may be an extension of the deadline for the ongoing SIM card re-registration, the National Communications Authority (NCA) has hinted.

The Authority had earlier stated that March 31, will mark the end of the exercise.

But the lawyer of the NCA, Poku Adusei has sought to allay any fears regarding the timelines.

“I can assure them that government is humane enough to know that when the work is not finished there could be an extension,” he said on JoyNews Prime.

Customers of telecommunication companies have been directed to synchronize their details with the National Identification database.

The process includes visiting outlets of the respective operators which have resulted in winding queues.

This has generated conversation about the waste of productive hours and raised questions about the flexibility of the exercise.

In a recent twist, a group of notable Ghanaian personalities who have identified themselves as Concerned Mobile Network Subscribers have served notice of boycotting the re-registration exercise on February 8, 2022.

According to them, they are ready to risk losing their SIM cards; hence, have set aside Tuesday, February 8, to embark on a nationwide protest dubbed ‘No Calls Day’.

“On that day, we call on all Ghanaians not to make or receive phone calls as a way of registering our disquiet about the circus surrounding the SIM card re-registration exercise,” they announced in a release dated January 13, 2022.

The demand that the NCA and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) come up with a better and innovative way of re-registering the SIM cards by first amending existing law; and secondly to do so without the current inhumane re-registration process we are witnessing.

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But in an interview with JoyNews, NCA lawyer Poku Adusei said the Authority will do everything possible to maintain a human face by providing ample time for all to successfully run the process.

“When it’s not done at the end of March, the government is humane enough to go and give us the power to extend whatever period we have been given,” he told Israel Laryea.