Mandatory SIM Card registration exercise suspended

Government has suspended the SIM card registration exercise until further notice.

Minister of Information and Civic Education, Nicholas Dausi made the announcement in the National Assembly today.

In his announcement Dausi said government will communicate on the next step soon and that government is of the view that the mobile telecommunication service providers should go to the country’s remote areas to civic educate the people on the exercise.

According to Dausi, the suspension follows what he called public concerns on the exercise. He further said that until such a time when enough civic education is done, the exercise has been suspended.

Some of the concerns from the public has been on suspicion that the on-going SIM card registration is a ploy by government to tap people’s phones.

On Monday, some MPs also raised concerns on the exercise. MP for Nkhata Bay Central Constituency, Ralph Mhone, said the provision for Sim card registration could be impinging on people’s right to privacy.