Member of Parliament for Bunkpurugu Constituency, Hon. Abed Bandim, has made a passionate appeal to the National Communication Authority (NCA) to include the passport and voter’s ID in the SIM Cards re-registration for Ghanaians yet to acquire the Ghana Card.
Those who used the passport or the voter’s card, he said, should then be mandated to update their records after they acquire the National ID Card.
He urged the NCA to also immediately withdraw the draconian punitive measures it has introduced on the exercise and cease being a rubber stamp regulator in the communications industry.
In a statement issued on Monday, September 5, Hon. Bandim observed that the inability of the NCA to assert its mandate is partly to blame for the mess with the SIM re-registration exercise.
According to him, had the NCA really wished to achieve its aim of becoming a world-class regulator, it should have first weaned itself off political control and the ego of the sector minister and effectively regulate the communication industry using evidence-based research.
He said, “As a former chief manager at the NCA, I know that this is an authority staffed by professionals who would only act in ways that promote the larger interest of Ghanaians. This is not the NCA that we know. The standards have fallen.”
The National Communications Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769) which establishes the NCA makes it the central body to license and regulate communications activities and services in the country. Mr. Bindam argued that as the industry regulator, therefore, the NCA must always provide well-researched technical advice to the Minister of Communications and Digitalization.
Government, he said, through the Ministry can issue policy directives that have to be implemented through the NCA as the regulator but the Authority must not be a rubber stamp.
“Because evidence over the past few years abound that the NCA is being used as a poodle by the Minister to implement the draconian policies of government in the communication sector.” “The usurpation of the NCA’s powers by the minister has become so bad that today, even the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunication is urging Ghanaians who have concerns about the SIM card registration to petition the minister and not necessarily the NCA. It’s an affront to the mandate of the NCA to allow itself to become a rubber stamp regulator.”
The NCA, he said, is aware of the challenges associated with the acquisition of the Ghana Card and well aware millions of Ghanaians despite frantic efforts have not had their Ghana cards due to the inability of the National Identification Authority (NIA) to issue same.
“Yet the NCA went ahead to issue punitive measures at the instance of the sector minister, who is hell-bent on satisfying her ego rather than serving Ghanaians. Isn’t the NCA supposed to prioritize the interest of Ghanaians over that of the minister,” he quizzed.
Mr. Bandim commended the introduction of the GH SIM Card Registration APP but stressed the cost of using it is exorbitant and exploitative and should be reduced.
The NCA, he said, should also have patience and observe the initial implementation challenges that may occur using the App before rolling out any punitive measures.
Source: Mypublisher24.com