The minister for communication, digital technology and innovation, Sam Nartey George, has defended the government’s planned SIM re-registration exercise, warning that flaws in the current system are exposing innocent Ghanaians to wrongful arrest and identity theft.
Addressing stakeholders, the minister said the initiative is primarily aimed at protecting consumers and ensuring accurate identification, rather than procurement interests.
According to Sam George, weaknesses in the existing SIM database have led to situations where law enforcement agencies act on inaccurate information, resulting in innocent individuals being wrongly targeted.
“The minister for interior, who doubles as the minister for national security, is breathing down my neck to give him a credible SIM register because there are times when law enforcement needs to identify a person… and based on what we have today, they go and pick up the wrong person,” he revealed.
He explained that in some cases, individuals have had their Ghana Card details cloned and used to register SIM cards later linked to criminal activities.
“The person’s Ghana Card was cloned and used to register a SIM that was involved in a criminal activity,” he added.
The minister stressed that the new registration drive is not about procurement, distancing the exercise from controversies that surrounded previous SIM registration efforts.
“At the base of this is not procurement. At the base of this is consumer protection and comfort,” he said.
He noted that the government’s priority is to build a robust and reliable system that ensures data accuracy while safeguarding users.
Sam George indicated that the new system will be jointly managed by the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the National Identification Authority (NIA), ensuring better integration between telecom data and national identity records.
“Our interest is getting a system that works and is owned by the NCA and the NIA,” he stated, expressing confidence that if properly implemented, the exercise could be the final SIM registration overhaul.
The minister added that the reforms are intended to restore public trust in the SIM registration system while protecting citizens from the consequences of identity misuse.
With millions of SIM cards already in circulation, authorities say the success of the new exercise will be critical to strengthening national security, digital governance and consumer protection in Ghana.
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