Former Minister for Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has issued a rebuttal to claims that a personal vendetta undermined Ghana’s biometric SIM card registration exercise.
In a detailed statement released on Friday, 20th March 2026, the former minister categorically denied allegations of a “feud” with Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the former Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA).
Her response follows remarks by President John Dramani Mahama, who suggested during his “Resetting Ghana” tour that personal friction between the two officials had compromised the integrity of the national data exercise.
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful clarified that while technical disagreements occurred between their respective institutions, they never devolved into the personal animosity suggested by the President.
She maintained that her relationship with Prof. Attafuah remained intact throughout the 2022–2023 period.
“Now, a lot has been said to create the impression that the problems with the exercise were because of personal issues or bad blood between institutions. That is simply not true. I have known Professor Attafuah for many years and at no point in time did we ever stop speaking to each other either personally or professionally,” she stated.
She further emphasised her commitment to public service over private sentiment: “We may have had disagreements but I am too professional to allow differences of opinion to affect my work in any way.”
The former Minister pointed to a specific technical policy, rather than personal discord, as the primary challenge during the registration drive. She revealed that the NIA declined to grant the SIM registration system direct, real-time access to its biometric database during the second stage of verification.
Despite this lack of direct integration, she defended the scale and success of the project:
Registration Volume: Nearly 30 million SIM cards were successfully registered and linked to the Ghana Card.
Audit Success: A 2025 audit confirmed that over 80% of facial biometrics collected during the exercise matched NIA records.
National Database: She argued that the exercise successfully created a comprehensive and functional national database for the telecommunications sector.
The former Minister concluded by cautioning the current administration against dismantling established digital infrastructure for political optics. She urged the government to build upon the foundation laid during her tenure rather than dismissing the progress made.
The exchange marks a deepening debate over Ghana’s digital identity architecture, as the current government moves toward a new registration phase intended to achieve 100% integration with the NIA’s backend systems.
