IMANI files RTI request over 2026 nationwide SIM registration plan

Policy think tank IMANI Africa has formally triggered Ghana’s access to information regime to demand full disclosure on government’s planned nationwide SIM registration exercise, scheduled to begin in early 2026.

On Monday, 8 December 2025, IMANI submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request to the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations. The request, which the group says was acknowledged by the Minister’s secretary, seeks detailed documentation on how the new registration regime has been designed, approved and will be implemented.

Under the RTI application, IMANI is asking the Ministry to release:

The legal instruments that authorise the new SIM registration framework;

The technical and biometric verification architecture to be deployed;

All relevant procurement records and vendor selection processes; and

The institutional oversight arrangements for managing and supervising the exercise.

A major focus of the request is data protection. IMANI is seeking clarity on the safeguards that will apply to Ghanaians whose personal and biometric information will be collected, including how the data will be stored, accessed and shared.

The think tank referenced growing public unease over the cost, governance and transparency of the proposed programme, particularly the role of private vendors and the way citizens’ biometric data might be handled.

IMANI’s application cites Article 21(1)(f) of the 1992 Constitution and the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), which guarantee the public’s right to access information held by state institutions.

According to the group, the objective is to enhance accountability and to ensure that the upcoming SIM registration is run strictly in the public interest, backed by a clear legal basis, robust technical design and credible privacy protections.

Read IMANI's full request below;