Sam George: Ursula Owusu won't be able to disable anyone's

Sam Nartey George, a member of parliament for Ningo Prampram, claims that Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, minister of communications and digitalization, cannot deactivate SIM cards by her deadline of October 31.

He claims that a lawsuit filed against the procedure prevents the minister from deactivating unregistered SIM cards.

In an interview with Joy FM on October 17, the MP stated that if an attempt to prohibit SIM cards by the end of the month is made, it will be used as justification for citing her for contempt of court.

Sam George stated that the substantive case and injunction request brought by nine Ghanaians against the SIM re-registration process will be heard by the judge on November 10.

The facts are straightforward, but the minister can keep moving the goalposts and using fancy English. Due to the fact that she is a lawyer herself and that we urged the NCA to inform the Ghanaian people of the truth when they claimed there was no legal basis for deactivating anyone’s SIM card at the end of October, she is unable to do so.

“Dr. Poku Adusei and Gary Nimako, the NCA’s director of legal affairs and attorney, appeared in court on the 13th of this month on behalf of the NCA.

“They were there to answer to our filed injunction lawsuit. The judge declared that he hadn’t read the procedure and that he will be present on November 10th. She understands the implications of receiving an injunction request, though, and is aware that whatever action she takes will result in a contempt citation because she is a lawyer and has legal representation, the member added.

In a statement dated October 17, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said that individuals who have finished stage one of the re-registration procedure (connecting a Ghana card to a SIM) have till the end of this month to finish the process or risk losing voice and broadband services.

The unregistered SIM cards of individuals who have not started the process at all will also be “progressively” blocked, she continued.

“From the end of October, all SIM Cards that have been linked to Ghana Cards (i.e., have finished Stage 1 registration) but have not finished their Stage 2 registration will be prohibited.

“This is not a postponement of the deadline; rather, it is a brief suspension to motivate these people to finish the procedure. They should get in touch with the NCA if they encounter any unusual difficulties.

“These good people have the Ghana card, have started the process and will be encouraged to complete it with this gentle reminder. All other unregistered SIMs will also be blocked progressively,” part of the statement read.

This will be the fourth time that the sector minister has failed to enforce a deadline given