SIM card re-registration exercise begins

The re-registration of mobile SIM cards across the country is expected to commence later today, Friday, October 1, 2021.

The exercise is expected to last for six months, ending on 31st March 2022.

According to the government, the registration is aimed at riding the country’s cyberspace of fraudsters, monitor and track down persons who use their phones for criminal activities.

SIM card users will require the National Identification card also known as Ghana card to be able to register their SIM cards.

Any SIM which is not registered at the end of this exercise will be blocked.

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in commenting on the development months earlier said, “we all have to do that otherwise we’ll lose that SIM card. That will really give us a real identity for all MoMo transactions. For example, it takes away fraud that is taking place like SIM box and through MoMo”, he added.

The move has been criticized by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, who has argued that undertaking a SIM re-registration exercise will not solve the issue of Mobile Money fraud as expected by Dr. Bawumia.

He said the Vice President is “ill-informed, inept and highly naive,” with that assumption.

“The solution to the challenges of fraud within the electronic money ecosystem goes beyond SIM registration,” he said.

“We hold the view that the mandatory re-registration of SIMS provides no substantial benefit in the fight against electronic money fraud, and will face practical challenges such as inbound travellers who require a SIM card without a national ID,” he added.

SIM re-registration steps

Dial the short code *404#

Enter Ghana Card Pin ( Note: Enter letters and figures without hyphens)

Confirm Ghana Card Pin

Enter
Surname

Enter First Name(s)

Enter Date of Birth (Format: DDMMYYYY)

Select Sex

Confirm Details

Submit Details

Provided After Confirmation

Note:

1, If successful, you will get a confirmation message with a unique code

2, If unsuccessful due to wrong details, you have 3 attempts to answer security questions

A second stage of the registration process requires that users visit the office of their telecom service providers