Henry Osei Akoto, a national organizer hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has admonished the Minister for Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful for the obstinate position she has taken against rife suggestions in the public domain, about the need for an extension of the Sim card registration deadline.
In less than 48 hours to the deadline, helpless Ghanaian citizens are still massed up at NIA offices and MTN offices across the country, standing in long queues, anxiously waiting in doom to get their Ghana cards or register their sim cards.
Mr. Osei Akoto’s comment foretelling a negative ripple effect, that a disconnection of such a huge number of unregistered SIM cards will exert on people’s livelihoods, employment and revenue mobilization of central government, is in line with the Minority’s point of view on the matter.
At a press conference within the precincts of parliament two days ago, the Minority group through the deputy ranking member on the communications committee, Sam George, underscored the possible national security threats such ill-conceived exercise bears on the nation, relative to the dozens of thousands of Ghanaian citizens who have been disabled from registering their sim cards due to faults of others than themselves.
Following the minority’s press conference a day after, the Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana (MMAAG) sent a wailful plea to the sector minister, imploring her to consider extending the deadline for the registration to January 2023, citing the ruinous impact it exerts on their businesses.
It is on the back of these heated arguments that Mr. Osei Akoto, the national organizer hopeful of the NDC has lambasted the said minister for her stiff stance on such an issue of national essence, advising her to do the needful by extending the sim cards registration deadline to enable the plethora of unregistered sim card owners to register.
In a tweet, the National Organiser hopeful of the NDC warned that the disconnecting of sim cards due to lack of registration will destabilize the country.
He advised the Minister to stop being arrogant and allow an extension of the deadline to allow more Ghanaians to register their sim cards and after getting their Ghana cards.
“Disconnecting SIM cards of about 15 million Ghanaians will destabilize the country,” he tweeted.