Ghana’s Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has announced a further extension to the country’s SIM re-registration campaign which was due to end on 31 July. At a press briefing on Sunday, the minister confirmed she had reluctantly granted the extension until 30 September 2022 due to a number of issues, including delays in the issuance of the biometric national ID card, the security situation in the Nawku district, and a lack of awareness that data-only SIMs also needed to be registered.
Highlighting that there had been a 90% drop in SIM registration when the original deadline was extended in late March, the minister announced a series of punitive measures to encourage subscribers to act, including a review at the end of August that will bar any SIM that has not been fully registered from receiving voice and data services. ‘Kindly do not blame your service provider when you suffer that fate due to your own inaction,’ she warned.