By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has told Parliament that, about 30 million SIM cards are currently registered and are active, and 7.9 million SIMs are blocked, but 18,673 cards have been reactivated after the deactivation deadline.
On the requirement for the registration, the Minister has suggested that anyone with difficulty can get other trusted associates to help in registration until their Ghana card is secured, a proposition that the Minority has kicked against, saying that even under such an arrangement, the law provides that both parties must have the Ghana Card.
The Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Erkuful, has maintained that there will be no extension to the SIM card deactivation since the process had been extended seven times already for all to do so.
The Minister, who was addressing Parliament on a variety of issues concerning the ongoing SIM card registration, added, however, that those with genuine concerns should reach out to the National Communication Authority (NCA) for solutions.
But the Deputy Ranking Member on the Communication Committee and MP for Ningo/Prampram, Sam George, insisted that, the process has been discriminatory and called on the Ministry and the NCA to halt the deactivation exercise.