Dr. Frank Bannor, Senior Research Fellow at IERPP
A Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy, Dr. Frank Bannor, has questioned the rationale behind the decision by the Mahama government to register SIM cards again.
The development economist, in a note copied to some media houses, indicated that the decision is not in the best interest of Ghana and must be abandoned.
“The previous government spent millions of taxpayers’ funds to register SIM cards across the country, an exercise which was very successful. Why should monies be spent to redo the same exercise by this government?’ he queried.
Dr. Bannor stressed that it makes very little financial sense to commit monies to undertake an exercise already done successfully.
“It is financially unwise and unsound to waste money to do this again. What do we seek to achieve with this proposed exercise that was not achieved with the previous one?”
He cautioned against wastefulness and insisted that Parliament should kick against such wasteful spending by the government.
“This level of profligacy should not be allowed by Parliament. Parliament must kick vehemently against this move by the government. It is a complete waste of our scarce resources” he said.
“This is looking like a create, loot and share scheme being undertaken by the government of the day. It doesn’t make financial sense to spend any money to re-register our SIM cards. If there were some loopholes, they should use technology to fix it instead of throwing away what has been done already” he advised.
The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Mr Samuel Nartey George, in a recent announcement indicated that there would be a new SIM cards registration slated for June 25, 2025.
The move has come under heavy criticisms by a section of Ghanaians, asking for its rationale in the face of the financial difficulties the country is facing, amongst other reasons.
