Not long after last year’s efforts by Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) to register SIMs, culminating in over 8 million unregistered SIM cards being deactivated, the NCA now plans to introduce shortcodes to verify SIMs linked to Ghana Cards.
With reports of increasing numbers of SIM cards being linked to people’s Ghana Cards (national ID cards), it seems many people have been calling for a common and simple system to verify the number of SIM cards linked to their Ghana Cards.
Thus, according to a social media post reported in the local press, the NCA has apparently been engaging with various telecommunication networks to launch the shortcode system.
It says that subscribers will simply need to type in the shortcode on their phones and, after a verification process using their Ghana Card PIN, the number of SIMs associated with the Ghana Card will be displayed.
The shortcode will apparently be ready by the end of April. Subscribers will not need to physically visit any service centres for verification.
The launch of the shortcode will, it is claimed, enhance the government’s efforts to secure the country’s cyberspace. This is probably just as well, given the challenges faced by the SIM re-registration exercise that began in October 2021 and that was aimed at tackling fraud and addressing the use of phones for criminal activities. The deadline for the exercise was pushed back several times over the following year.