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SIM card re-registration deadline extended to September 30 – Ursula Owusu-Ekuful

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Minister for Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu Ekuful

The SIM card re-registration exercise has been extended to September 30, 2022.

Many people have been struggling to re-register their SIM cards as required by the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation. The Exercise was scheduled to end on Sunday, July 31, 2022.

However, speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, the Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said the extension followed consultations with industry stakeholders.

“Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a conditional extension. The programme will be extended to 30th September to end on the anniversary of its commencement.”

“That will give us one full year of SIM registration. It will be reviewed at the end of this month and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from receiving certain services including voice and data services,” she said.

The Minister noted that despite the challenges with the Ghana Card – long queues among others – many Ghanaians failed to register their SIMs after the deadline was extended.

Thus, this extension of the deadline is the final one.

“The statistics indicate that there was a 90% drop in SIM reregistration, as soon as the first deadline was extended on 21st March. Until a week ago there were no queues, people started going to register when they realised that the deadline was imminent after going to sleep.”

“The mobile network operators, NCA, and the NIA have all engaged additional staff, procured the necessary logistics and are incurring significant expenses to conduct this exercise successfully, any extension of the process increases their cost,” she added.

This comes after many Ghanaians besieged telecommunication outlets across the country in a desperate attempt to register their SIM cards ahead of the second deadline on Sunday, July 31.

In an analysis by JoyNews, about 7.9m Ghanaians were expected to lose SIM cards by the deadline.

According to data contained in the 2021 Population and Housing Census, there are 19.9 million Ghanaians who are 15 years and older.

Out of this, only 15.7 million of them have been able to obtain their Ghana Card per the information given by the Finance Minister during the presentation of the 2022 mid-year budget review.

Of the 19.9 million, just 12 million, according to the Minister of Communications and Digitisation, have been able to fully register their SIM cards.

People called on the government and the Communications Ministry to extend the deadline of the SIM card re-registration exercise.

Meanwhile, the Communications Minister has announced that a self-sim registration app will be launched next week to help people register in the comfort of their homes.

Source: myjoyonline.com

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9 killed, several others injured in an accident at Ho

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Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries. Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.

A terrible accident occurred at the base of Galenkui Mountain in Ho, claiming the lives of nine people, including babies.

The terrifying occurrence occurred as a 207 Benz was transporting goods and passengers from Abotoase to Sogakofe.

The car encountered brake failure while descending the mountain, culminating in a collision with a Zoomlion garbage truck.

Initial reports verified seven fatalities at the disaster scene, including newborns and children.

Following that, Mary Dzifa, a nurse at Ho Municipal Hospital, informed Citi News that roughly ten children had died in the disaster.

“I was at our facility yesterday, November 22, when a car rushed in with dead and injured children and injured adults, especially men. Some were attended to at the facility, and the rest who were severely injured were taken to the Ho Teaching Hospital. The dead children will be about 10.”

Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries.

Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.

“I received a call from a friend yesterday who was going back to town and that he saw the accident, so I quickly informed the nurses to be on alert. Some were brought in with pickups, ambulance, tricycles; the situation was very bad, some had broken limbs, some heads almost being severed, some were bleeding from all parts of the body. After two hours, we were able to calm the situation down.”

“We had a total of 30 accident victims brought here. Two others were brought from the Municipal Hospital this morning, making it 32 in all. My information is that we lost 9 of them, 4 are kids and 5 are adults. For the kids, three were brought in dead. Those injured are responding to treatment.”

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This was avoidable – Bonaa on fatal clashes in Nkwanta

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The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots. Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as "ethnic clashes."

Dr Adam Bonaa, a security expert, has requested the Oti Regional Minister to restrict all public events in Nkwanta in response to the riots that have taken eight lives.

The fights, in his opinion, were avoidable.

“The Regional Minister and his men must make certain that this never happens again.” This was avoidable, yet 8 people died as a result,” he remarked on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Tuesday, November 21.

He further suggested that “It is important to suspend all public activities that are likely to take place by the two factions, this is the surest way of letting them know that there is an authority within Nkwanta and the region.”

The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots.

Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday, November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as “ethnic clashes.”

“Tomorrow we are going to have an emergency security meeting again, ” he further said.

He also disclosed that there had been conflicts in town two weeks earlier between members of two tribes, Adele and Akyode.

Following the conflicts, the Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, acted on the advice of the REGSEC and via Executive Instrument to impose a curfew on Nkwanta township.

The curfew will be in force from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21.

On Tuesday, November 21, an attacker opened fire in the town’s central market area.

Several people have been murdered and others have been injured as a result of the incident.

The Oti Regional Security Council dispatched officers to the region to handle the situation.

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“Government wishes to appeal to all to exercise restraint and to use the established mechanisms for the resolution of all their conflicts and disputes.

“Meanwhile, the Government will like to reiterate that, there is a ban on all persons in Nkwanta Township and its environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons and any persons found with any arms or ammunition will be arrested and prosecuted,” the Minister said.

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I never indicated my house was sold – Speaker of Parliament

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However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that "at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer." However, in a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.

Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has categorically rejected selling his official house to a private developer.

He then stated that his home was “almost sold” to a private developer.

The Speaker of Parliament recently revealed that his Accra home was sold to a private developer while he was still living there.

He said this only came to light when the developer went to the Lands Commission to register the land on Monday at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Accra.

However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that “at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer.”

In a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.

“I didn’t say my residence was sold. That was not what I said. This was just a comment in passing when I said it was almost sold but luckily, I was in possession. And I said it was when they went to Lands Commission that they realised from the search that it was the residence of the Speaker,” Alban Bagbin clarified.

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