The government of Malawi has suspended the country’s mandatory SIM card registration campaign, which was launched by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) in June last year. Nyasa Times quotes Minister of ICT Nicholous Dausi as saying that the process has been deferred ‘until the administrative and technical concerns and questions’ raised by the public are addressed. The registration deadline was set to expire on 31 March 2018, following which any unregistered SIMs would be disconnected, but after concerns raised by the public, the government has decided to suspend the process.
Dausi said the ministry will be working with the MACRA, mobile operators and other relevant stakeholders to agree on the ‘modalities of executing a robust awareness campaign’ to assist in addressing some of the concerns, noting that the government ‘wishes to assure the public and all stakeholders that it will ensure that this process is expedited taking into account that the law should be respected.’