Ghana Plans Fresh Nationwide SIM Registration in 2026 as Minister Declares Previous Exercise “Invalid”

Ghana is preparing to restart its national SIM registration process in early 2026, marking a major policy reset for the country’s digital identification ecosystem. According to the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, the last registration campaign—overseen by former Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration—failed to meet essential verification standards and will not be recognized.

Speaking during an appearance on TV3 on December 3, the Minister described the earlier effort as incomplete and ineffective, characterizing it as “a waste of everybody’s time.”

Why Ghana Is Starting Over

At the heart of the government’s decision is the allegation that the initial SIM registration process lacked proper biometric validation.

George emphasized that the biometrics collected were never matched against the National Identification Authority’s (NIA) database—an essential step for confirming user identities.

“The registrations that were purported to have been done by Ursula Owusu and the NPP did not cross-reference the biometrics they took from you against that database. Nothing of that sort was done,” he said.

He added that because the core authentication layer was missing, the exercise cannot be considered legitimate.

The public “didn’t do any registration,” he insisted, clarifying that the upcoming effort is not a re-registration but an entirely new national process.

Building a Stronger Legal and Technical Foundation

To prevent a repeat of the earlier shortcomings, the Ministry is putting in place a strengthened policy, legal, and technical framework.

A New Legislative Instrument (L.I.)

A fresh Legislative Instrument has been drafted and, according to George, is “ready” to be presented before Parliament. This will provide the legal grounding required to run a compliant and enforceable SIM registration program.

Procurement Underway

The Ministry is currently working with the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to appoint a service provider responsible for executing the registration nationwide.

Full System Integration

One of the major gaps in the previous attempt—lack of a unified verification system—is being addressed. The Ministry has now completed integration work connecting:

• The telecom operators,

• The National Communications Authority (NCA), and

• The National Identification Authority’s biometric database.

“We have worked out the integration,” George noted, highlighting that the new system will support real-time biometric verification.

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Cleaning Up Old Registration Data

While the earlier SIM data was deemed invalid, the government is not discarding it entirely. Instead, the Ministry has begun reconciling and validating those records.

George revealed that the biometrics captured under the NPP administration were left “scattered all over the place” in multiple databases. These datasets are now being consolidated and checked against NIA records.

“We have picked those databases, and we are now cleaning them up and cross-referencing them with the NIA in the backend. About 80% of them have been done,” he said.

This backend clean-up aims to reduce duplicate entries, weed out unverifiable identities, and ensure a smoother transition to the 2026 exercise.

What Happens Next?

With the technical integration largely complete, the next major steps include:

• Finalizing procurement,

• Laying the new Legislative Instrument before Parliament, and

• Launching public sensitization ahead of rollout.

The government expects the nationwide SIM registration to commence within the first quarter of 2026, marking a significant reboot of Ghana’s digital identity and telecom compliance framework.