The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has directed telecom operators to immediately recall and deactivate all pre-activated and pre-registered SIM cards that are held in stock by street vendors and agents.
These directives come in the wake of the soaring crimes rates in the country with the recent incident of the kidnap and murder of Susan Magara by unknown assailants, who communicated from five anonymous locations using unregistered sim cards, while demanding for ransom from the deceased’s family members.
In a press briefing held at UCC headquarters in Bugolobi, UCC Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi implored Telecom operators to deny access to any subscriber whose equipment doesn’t comply with the Commission’s approval requirements.
“In a bid to curb the increasing crimes, telecom operators must acquire and install Central Equipment Identification Register (CERI) at their service centres to validate National Identity Card information which will instantly be verified against the national database maintained by National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA),” Eng. Mutabazi said.
Further, he said that communication companies shall obtain approval from UCC for all network equipment used and subscriber terminals or devices sold by respective operators in Uganda.
The UCC boss also implored telecoms to make available facilities on their respective networks through short code 197 to enable the public to verify which numbers are registered using their National Identification Numbers (NIN).
“Telecom companies shall forthwith be liable for any violation of Commission directives by their staff of agents whether such violation is by omission, commission or otherwise,” Mr. Mutabazi said.
Yesterday, all major communication companies issued statements alerting their clients that they ceased the selling new SIM Cards as they work with NIRA and UCC to implement the necessary technical requirements.
