The Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Gaming Commission of Ghana, Lamtiig A. Apanga, has dismissed concerns that the planned SIM card registration exercise will impose an additional financial burden on Ghanaians.
His comments come amid growing public unease over the cost of the exercise, particularly following the earlier nationwide SIM registration
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, March 21, Mr Apanga clarified that although the registration process comes at a fee, it will not be borne directly by consumers.
According to him, telecommunications companies are expected to absorb the cost, effectively shielding the public from any direct charges.
“I am told, and I’ve read from the website, that it is five cedis per registration of a SIM card. That is the cost of the registration exercise.
This cost is not being borne by individuals. I’m told the telcos are absorbing the cost, and so eventually, it won’t come at any cost to us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Former Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has dismissed claims that she was not on talking terms with Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, former Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), and that this caused limitations in the 2022–2023 SIM card registration exercise.
Her response comes after President John Dramani Mahama suggested, during his Resetting Ghana tour in the Bono Region, that the previous SIM card registration was flawed due to disagreements between Ursula Owusu-Ekuful and Prof. Attafuah, which he said affected the process.
