Minority NPP stages walkout over SIM re-registration Parliamentary oversight

Minority Caucus in Parliament on Wednesday, July 15, staged a walkout in protest against the First Deputy Speaker Benard Ahiafor, accusing him of using parliamentary rules to stampede oversight on the planned SIM re-registration exercise.

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, asked a supplementary question, inquiring from Samuel Nartey George, the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, the cost implications of the new SIM re-registration to the government.

The Minority Leader argued that the previous administration had already conducted a similar exercise and requested the cost to the government and statistics on unverified identities.

Responding, the Minister explained that the earlier registration was fraught with challenges, including unverifiable biometrics, which allowed stolen and unverified identities to be used for SIM registration.

He stressed that the new exercise would be conducted at no cost to the citizenry.

Mr Ahiafor, presiding, directed the Minority Leader to file a fresh question, citing parliamentary rules.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, however, insisted that Standing Order 89 (1) permitted supplementary questions once a Minister had responded, particularly when the Minister had indicated that the exercise would be of no cost to the citizens.

Earlier in the plenary, Duke William Allen Kwame Amoako-Atta Ofori-Atta, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fanteakwa South, had asked why the Ministry was planning an entirely new biometric SIM registration.

In response, the Minister stated that: “Mr Speaker, the existing SIM registration platform cannot adequately support the enhanced requirements relating to real-time biometric verification.”

The incident underscored growing tensions between the Minority and the leadership of the House over the scope of parliamentary oversight.

While the Ministry maintained that a new biometric system was necessary to curb identity fraud, the Minority insisted that Parliament's right to scrutinise government policy must not be curtailed.

GNA