Surcharging for SIM registration would be illegal without Parliamentary approval – Ras Mubarak
According to Ras Mubarak, registering SIM cards in Ghana without parliamentary approval would be illegal. The Concerned Mobile Network Subscribers, of which Mubarak is a former member of parliament, sent out a press release shortly after the Communications Ministry extended the registration deadline, announcing that the surcharge announced by Communications and Digitalisation Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful would be illegal because a Minister cannot impose fees or charges without parliamentary approval.
“The Minister has been an MP for some time and should know what ought to be done to impose fees or charges. She has not sought parliamentary approval and has no authority to impose fees or charges without parliamentary approval,” he stated.
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“Secondly, at a time of an economic meltdown where serious governments all over the world are giving their citizens relief packages to ease the burden of the recession, it is disappointing that the Minister will seek to illegally impose further burden on the already struggling Ghanaian public.
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“We call on her to abandon this insensitive announcement to illegally impose a surcharge of GH¢5 on Ghanaians”.