A communication team member of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Opoku Mensah, has strongly asserted that the government's planned SIM re-registration exercise is being used as a cover to financially sustain party footsoldiers rather than the intended purpose of unfit data collection for security purposes hence calls for a boycott. 

“The process for verification is still active with the code *402# active for SIM card verification. With just your Ghana Card Number and date of birth, every SIM (Phone number) that was registered with your Ghana Card will pop up. Why the need for new SIM registration?” Mensah quizzed.

In a blunt and revealing commentary, he claimed the initiative officially presented as a national security measure is also a calculated move to ease mounting pressure on the government from party grassroots demanding jobs.

“We need government money to feed the footsoldiers… to run our homes, campaign, and party activities,” he declared.

He further suggested that recruiting party loyalists into the exercise is a deliberate strategy to quiet growing discontent within the party.

“At least footsoldiers will be recruited… and the noise will go down about no jobs for party people,” he added.

The explosive claims point to what appears to be an internal mechanism to manage frustration among supporters, warning that without such interventions, anger could be directed at appointees — and even the presidency.

The SIM re-registration exercise, overseen by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and the National Communications Authority, has consistently been justified as critical for national security and data integrity.

However, Opoku Mensah’s remarks now cast doubt on that narrative, raising serious concerns about whether a key national policy is being used for political patronage.

Meanwhile, John Dramani Mahama has publicly commented on the importance of SIM registration in strengthening national systems, though he has not addressed the allegations emerging from within the opposition party.