Former Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has issued a strong rebuttal to President John Dramani Mahama’s claims that her alleged personal friction with the National Identification Authority (NIA) undermined the 2021–2023 SIM registration exercise.
In a detailed statement released on Friday, March 20, 2026, the former Minister dismissed the narrative of a "feud" as a political falsehood and defended the integrity of the database created during her tenure.
"No Bad Blood": Denying the Feud
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful categorically denied that she was "not on speaking terms" with former NIA Executive Secretary Prof. Kenneth Attafuah:
Professional Relationship: She stated she has known Prof. Attafuah for many years and maintained regular professional communication with him throughout the exercise.
Institutional, Not Personal: She clarified that while there were "disagreements of opinion" between the Ministry and the NIA, these were technical and institutional, not personal animosities.
The Real Bottleneck: She revealed that the primary challenge was a technical policy: the NIA declined to grant the SIM registration system direct, real-time access to its biometric database for the second stage of verification.
80% Audit "Vindication"
The former Minister pointed to a 2025 independent audit as proof that the previous exercise was far from "useless":
Biometric Match: The audit found that over 80% of the facial biometrics captured during the 2021–2023 drive matched the official NIA records.
Existing Foundation: She argued that rather than "starting from scratch," the current government only needs to verify the remaining 20% of users—essentially a "Stage 3" of the process she began.
National Registry: She emphasized that almost 30 million SIM cards were successfully linked to Ghana Cards and are currently hosted securely at the National Data Centre (NITA).
Accusations of "Copying" and Political Optics
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful accused the current administration of "dishonesty" for dismissing her work while using the same methodology:
"Copy and Paste": She noted that the "new" tools being presented by Minister Sam George—including the self-registration app and shortcode systems—were actually developed and deployed during her time.
Cheap Politics: "You cannot condemn a process in the morning, copy it in the afternoon, and come back in the evening to claim you have invented something new," she wrote.
A Twi Appeal: She concluded her statement with a traditional appeal: "Wo nyi m'ayɛ a, mɛnsɛi me din!!" (If you cannot praise me, do not tarnish my reputation).
"Every active SIM card being used today on any mobile network is linked to a Ghana Card, and that is an incontrovertible fact." — Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.
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