from ALFRED SHILONGO in Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia Bureau
WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – NAMIBIA has asserted the deadline exercise to register subscriber identity module (SIM) cards would not be extended beyond March 31.
This leaves unregistered subscribers in a race against time to avoid disconnection, with less than two weeks before the cut-off date.
Emma Theofelus, the Minister of Information and Communications Technologies, in a ministerial statement to Parliament, has announced that no further extension will be granted to SIM card users beyond the approaching deadline.
She said non compliant subscribers who have their SIM cards would face a three-month suspension when the deadline lapses.
“Customers trying to utilise the service within this period will encounter a warning message and will not be able to proceed,” Theofelus explained.
She urged SIM card users to utilise the ongoing grace period to complete their SIM card registration promptly.
This week, mobile network operators in the Southern African country reminded subscribers to register.
They have encouraged citizens to register their SIM cards online, including from the comfort of their homes.
The impending deadline has coincided with the emergence of an online post, since described by the ICT ministry as fake, alleging the government would intrude on citizens’ calls and monitor their online interactions.
Some human rights organisations and government critics have used such allegations to defy the SIM registration exercise.
The exercise has faced some resistance since its announcement in 2022.
The government assures the process is intended to counter cyber crime.
The deadline was initially set for December 31 in 2023.
Then, the government reported 62,5 percent of active SIM card users had registered, in the country of 2,38 million citizens.
– CAJ News