The National Identification Authority (NIA) says the backlog of unprinted cards, uncollected cards and multi-applications, warrants an extension of the SIM re-registration exercise deadline.
The Head of Administration and Human Resources at the NIA, Cecilia Erzuah believes the extension should be to the end of the year.
Speaking on the subject in a Citi News interview, she said the March 31 deadline for the exercise is not feasible due to the volume of work at the NIA to ensure every applicant gets their Ghana Card, which is a prerequisite for the SIM card registration exercise.
“The SIM card re-registration, they should look at the time frame and extend it. A lot of people haven’t received their cards. There are people who did double and triple registrations and the system has arrested their cards. All these cards need to be released, and we need to work on them at the backend, otherwise, all these people will lose their SIM,” she said.
The SIM card re-registration using the Ghana Card has been scheduled to end by March 31, 2022.
This has occasioned long queues and frustrations at registration centres across the country, with mobile network operators indicating their challenges with managing the situation due to the number of people thronging their offices to complete the process.
The National Communication Authority says it is open to extension of the SIM registration deadline amid complaints from Ghanaians, but telcos have in the interim put in place measures to decentralize the registration process by creating out-of-office registration centres in various communities, outreach registration exercises in churches, mosques and organised workplaces.