Make other IDs eligible for SIM card re-registration – STRANEK-Africa to Communications Ministry

The Strategic Thinkers Network-Africa (STRANEK-Africa) is urging the Ministry of Communications to consider making other ID Cards eligible for the ongoing SIM Card re-registration exercise.

This month, the Ministry of Communications and Digitisation has commenced the re-registration of all SIM Cards in the country as part of efforts to check fraud.

The exercise which is running for six months requires that all SIM Cards are registered with the Ghana Card issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA).

Among the concerns raised on the decision to make only Ghana Card the eligible ID for the registration, STRANEK-Africa has added its voice.

According to the Network, there should be an alternative to allow Ghanaians to use other ID Cards for the re-registration.

“STRANEK-Africa wishes the Ministry of Communication will take a second look at our ongoing SIM Card Registration exercise. There should be an alternative where different IDs can be used to register SIM Cards. Passports, the Driver’s licence currently are stronger IDs than the Ghana Card since the Ghana Card is largely filled with unverified GhanaPost GPS addresses. In effect, most of the GhanaPost GPS addresses are not linked to the physical addresses of registrants per our fastidious checks,” part of a release from the Network dated October 13 has said.

It adds, "If one of the reasons for SIM card re-registration is to fight fraudulent activities, then the fight is akin to a battle of Waterloo. Reasons are that, majority of Ghanaians do not have a fixed place of abode but rather, they are highly residentially mobile. Simply presenting an ID card is a mitigation but not the solution to fight SIM based digital crime.”

STRANEK-Africa is of the view that there must be some form of liveliness test to accompany a credential, and also another to establish true ownership of the document presented.

Below is the full statement from the Network: