A renewed national debate over Ghana’s SIM card registration regime has ignited a sharp political and policy confrontation between President John Dram
A renewed national debate over Ghana’s SIM card registration regime has ignited a sharp political and policy confrontation between President John Dramani Mahama and former Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, with both sides offering conflicting accounts of the credibility and legacy of the previous exercise.
At the centre of the controversy is the government’s decision to initiate a fresh SIM card re-registration exercise in 2026, a move President Mahama has defended as necessary to correct what he describes as fundamental flaws in the earlier process undertaken between 2021 and 2023.
Speaking during his “Resetting Ghana” tour in Sunyani on March 19, 2026, President Mahama questioned the effectiveness of the previous registration exercise, arguing that despite the inconvenience it imposed on millions of Ghanaians, it failed to produce meaningful results.
He cited poor coordination between the Ministry of Communications and the National Identification Authority (NIA) as a major setback, noting that the lack of seamless integration undermined efforts to properly verify SIM card ownership.
According to the President, the earlier exercise was characterized by systemic inefficiencies, including long queues and limited accessibility, which ultimately did not serve the intended purpose of enhancing national security and digital identity verification.
He maintained that the new exercise will be fully integrated with the Ghana Card system, allowing users to update their details digitally without the need for physical queues.
The President’s position is further reinforced by findings from the National Communications Authority (NCA), which reportedly revealed that an audit of SIM registration data from the previous exercise recorded zero fingerprint matches when cross-checked with the national identity database—raising serious concerns about data integrity.
However, these assertions have been strongly contested by Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who oversaw the earlier registration exercise during her tenure as Minister for Communications and Digitalisation.
In a detailed statement issued on March 20, 2026, she rejected claims that the process was ineffective, insisting that it delivered significant structural gains.
She argued that nearly 30 million SIM cards were successfully linked to Ghana Cards, forming a robust and legally compliant database that enhanced both national identification systems and security architecture.
According to her, governance should be viewed as a continuum, and the current administration must acknowledge the progress made rather than dismiss it for political expediency.
Owusu-Ekuful also pushed back against suggestions that personal disagreements between her and former NIA Executive Secretary, Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, contributed to the challenges of the exercise.
She described such claims as false and misleading, emphasizing that they maintained professional communication throughout the process.
Clarifying the technical limitations encountered, she explained that the NIA did not permit direct integration of its biometric database with the SIM registration system during the second phase of verification.
Despite this, she noted that an audit conducted in 2025 showed over 80 percent facial biometric matching with NIA records—an indication, she said, of the exercise’s success.
In a pointed critique of the current government’s approach, the former minister questioned what she described as contradictions in policy direction. She argued that the same methodology previously criticized by figures now in government is being repackaged and presented as innovation.
“You cannot discredit a process and then replicate it while claiming novelty,” she asserted, adding in Twi, “Wo nyi m’ayɛ a, mɛnsɛi me din,” meaning “If you cannot praise my work, do not tarnish my reputation.”
Meanwhile, the evolving stance of Samuel Nartey George, now Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, has added another layer to the debate. Once a vocal critic of the SIM registration exercise while in opposition, he is now leading the charge for a new nationwide re-registration initiative.
Between 2021 and 2024, Sam George criticized the previous exercise as cumbersome and overly restrictive, particularly opposing the exclusive use of the Ghana Card and advocating for the use of existing biometric databases such as those of the Electoral Commission and the NIA to validate SIM ownership. He also raised concerns about procurement processes, alleging that they were prioritised over consumer safety.
Now in government, however, he has announced plans for a “proper” and fully digital re-registration exercise set to commence in early 2026.
He insists that the new system will eliminate queues and incorporate advanced technologies, including a Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) to block stolen devices and biometric “liveliness tests” to enhance authentication.
George has defended the shift in his position, arguing that the new approach is fundamentally different, focusing on data integrity and user convenience rather than the structural flaws he previously criticized.
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