Sam George: Telecoms Will Foot the Bill for SIM Card Registration
Minister commits to ensuring telcos take financial responsibility for the national SIM registration process, aiming for a centralized and credible database.
- Telecom companies will bear the full financial responsibility for the SIM card registration exercise
- Plans to introduce a Legislative Instrument (LI) to Parliament to formalize the directive
- George distinguishes his initiative from past re-registration efforts
Minister for Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovation, Samuel Nartey George, has reaffirmed his stance that telecommunications companies will bear the full cost of the upcoming SIM card registration exercise in Ghana.
In a recent interview, Sam George emphasized his commitment to holding telcos accountable for the financial burden of the registration process, which he sees as an essential move to enhance the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.
He revealed plans to introduce a Legislative Instrument (LI) in Parliament to formalize this directive.
“They [telcos] will pay for it. I will make them pay for it. There is an LI that we will be laying before Parliament,” George stated confidently.
The Minister also addressed the shortcomings of the previous re-registration exercise under former Minister Ursula Owusu, clarifying that his initiative is a comprehensive SIM registration and not a mere re-registration.
“That was one of my criticisms of Ursula Owusu—that the re-registration she did… and that is why I have been clear that I am not doing a re-registration. I am doing a SIM registration,” he emphasized.
This new initiative, George explained, is aimed at creating a credible, centralized database using the Ghana Card as the definitive source of truth.
He also noted that the current SIM registration legislation, which dates back to 2010 under Minister Haruna Iddrisu, predated the introduction of the Ghana Card.
“The last LI on the record for registration was 2010 by Haruna Iddrisu and don’t forget that registration Haruna did—there was no Ghana Card at the time and so there was no single source of truth,” he added.
