Govt lifts sim card registration suspension

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Dausi

The Malawi government through the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology has ordered that the sim card registration exercise should resume.

Nicholus Dausi
Dausi: signed the statement

Through a statement signed by minister responsible Nicholas Dausi, government has given a go ahead to Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to register sim cards through mobile operators.

The statement disclose that government has considered concerns by the general public that included extension of the registration period.

“The Mobile Phone Service providers have undertaken to make the registration exercise convenient to the public by widely informing the public about the places and times where the registration is taking place,” says the statement.

Mobile service providers will also recruit appropriate numbers of agents and buy handsets for them to facilitate the registration exercise even in remote areas.

The physically challenged, including the elderly, who cannot register by themselves will be allowed to do so through the particulars of their next of kin or a proven third party.

According to the statement, a robust awareness campaign will continue to be undertaken in order to assist in ensuring a smooth registration exercise.

Section 92 of the new Communications Act in Malawi gives mandate to MACRA to register all sim cards in the country.

MACRA earlier disclosed that the registration of sim cards is to help in curbing fraud that was to be on the rise in Malawi.