get latest news from West Africa

Some members of the public in Keta Municipality of the Volta Region have expressed mixed reactions over the proposed Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card re-registration exercise.
While some residents in the area believed the move would help curb fraudsters’ activities, others have opposed to the move, citing concerns about data security and privacy, among others.
Mr Selorm Augustine Hamenu, a resident of Vodza, in the Keta Municipality, told the Ghana News Agency, in an interview that the moves by the government were to re-register SIM cards to enhance national security, reduce fraudulent activities, and improve industry regulation.
“What l understand is that the exercise, which is expected to start soon, will enable all citizens have the opportunity to re-register their SIM cards using the Ghana Card, this will curb a lot of fraudulent activities by some fraudsters,” he said.
He said that many other residents in Keta and its surrounding areas have welcomed the initiative which would reduce cybercrime, mobile money fraud, and others, adding that, “this is a good move which will help us secure our phones and reduce the number of scam calls we receive.”
However, others were skeptical about the ability of the government to protect their data with some residents expressing worry about their data securities falling into wrong hands which could harm them afterwards.
Madam Dzifa Tetevi, a seamstress at Tetekope, a suburb of Keta, also stated that the previous SIM registration exercise conducted faced challenges, including low registration rates and data security concerns and urged government to provide alternative solutions to address such issues with the new exercise.
“My concern is about the potential risks of biometric data being stored by private telecommunications companies, biometric data is the currency of identity in the digital age, and we need to ensure that it is protected well to avoid any unfortunate situation.”
She said that the government should engage with the public thoroughly and provided all the necessary education needed before enrolling the programme to address concerns and ensure a smooth registration process to gain the trust of citizens and achieve its goals.
She lamented and questioned about how 2 million or more Ghanaians would be re-registered and how the exercise would be conducted to capture every single SIM card and argued that what could happen to anyone who would not be able to re-register his or her SIM.
“What are the criteria for the re-registration exercise, how can they register my grandfather in my village, are they going to do it through the social media, these and many more questions we are looking forward to understand.”
Mr. Samuel Nartey George, the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovations, had earlier promised that the exercise would be a queue-free, smooth, and successful exercise.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) has also outlined the registration process, which involves submitting Ghana Card details via a Short Code or online portal, while the process would also verify citizen information and link SIM cards to individual Ghana Cards.
Some experts also argue that the re-registration exercise was necessary to combat mobile-related fraud and cybercrime with registered SIMs expected to enable authorities to trace criminals using mobile networks for scams and other crimes.
The government has emphasised that the exercise would be mandatory and urged citizens to register their SIM cards when the time comes to avoid disruptions to their services.
Source: GNA