Minister for Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovation, Sam Nartey George, has informed the general public that his planned SIM re-registration can only take place after a Legislative Instrument (L.I.) has been presented to Parliament.

During a press briefing on Thursday, July 3, Mr George noted that the previous L.I. presented sometime in 2010 is no longer fit for purpose.

He stated that the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the ministry are working together to submit a new L.I. to guide the SIM card registration process.

"I want everything we do as a ministry to be backed by law, and so we will go back to Parliament, lay the L.I., and once it is matured, we will then roll out the SIM registration", he said.

According to the sector minister, the NCA has implemented the overhaul of the entire SIM re-registration exercise and structured it into three phases.

Phase 1 will be the biometric validation and data cleanup. Phase 2 is going to be the controlled new registration, and Phase 3 will be business seam verification and deactivation of non-compliant records.

The SIM card re-registration exercise, said to be a simplified process aimed at eliminating long queues and enhancing convenience for citizens, was to have taken place at the beginning of the month.

However, that will not be the case. Nonetheless, the sector minister has assured Ghanaians that "this SIM registration will be like none you’ve ever seen."

"There will be no queues or loss of man-hours. You will do it electronically. You’ll get the messages, and that is the work the NCA is currently doing—about 80 percent complete in terms of the biometric data cleanup. It has removed a lot of biometric data. There’s no need for you to come back and resubmit that data if we can access that data, clean it, and match it with you," he added during Thursday's engagement with the media.

He is optimistic about the SIM registration exercise commencing before the end of the third quarter, September.

"I’m sure before the end of quarter 3, we will be in a position to officially announce the public start of the SIM registration," Mr George remarked.

The SIM card re-registration exercise, which initially began in 2021, saw several deadline extensions due to lower-than-expected registration rates. The exercise required all SIM card holders to re-register their cards using their Ghana Card, the official national identity document.

The low registration rates led to millions of unregistered active SIM cards, prompting the government to extend the deadlines on multiple occasions. This situation sparked concerns regarding data security and the potential for fraudulent registrations via the mobile app.

The government’s main goal behind the SIM card re-registration exercise is to strengthen national security by limiting criminal activities that are often enabled by unregistered SIM cards.

Additionally, the move aims to enhance industry regulation by ensuring that all registered SIM cards are linked to accurate and valid data.