Mad rush for Ghana Card as deadline for SIM card registration nears
The Kadjebi District Office of the National Identification Authority (NIA) is recording heavy human traffic as people rush for the Ghana Card to enable them to register their SIM cards before the deadline for re-registration.
Ghana News Agency’s (GNA) visit to the Office saw SIM card users, who are yet to re-register their SIM cards for lack of Ghana Card, walking to the offices to complete processes for their Ghana Card.
In an interview with the GNA at Kadjebi, Mr Angelo Fiawotoafor, the District Registration Officer (DRO), said hitherto, “those who registered during the mass registration period and were reluctant to get their cards are now coming for them.”
He said similarly, “those who never registered at all are also coming to register for the card” since the deadline for SIM card “is coming to a close.”
He said the Directorate registers averagely between 10-20 applicants daily currently and attributed the surge to the SIM card re-registration deadline on Sunday, July 31, 2022.
He appealed to the populace to come and register for their Ghana cards, but not wait for deadlines to own the card.
Mr Fiawotoafor said the card identified and affirmed the holder as a Ghanaian and allowed him or her access to a world of benefits, adding that the personal identification number and biometric data secured one from identity theft and impersonation.
Mr Emmanuel Akorli, an applicant, told GNA that he came on three occasions to register, but was unsuccessful due to network failure, so the exercise should be extended as most citizens were in queues attempting to register for the Ghana card.
The SIM cards re-registration commenced on October 1, 2021 and expected to end on July 31, 2022.
This required SIM subscribers to re-register their SIMs or risk being removed from the communication network.
Those subscribers who failed to re-register would not be able to make voice calls, use mobile money service, internet and all other services linked to the SIM card after the deadline.
A Ghanaian citizen who resides in Ghana and currently using a SIM card or who intends to use a SIM card needed a Ghana Card to do the registration.
The exercise was meant to curb fraudulent and criminal activities, secure SIM card-based transactions, help determine at every point in time the accurate number of valid and accurate SIMs on the networks, help develop and build a SIM database, among others.
Source: GNA