The President and Fountain of Honor of the Nation, Yoweri Museveni has spoken out on the highly contested SIM card registration exercise. He however refrained from sending another letter, a method that has lately not been appreciated by Ugandans.
At about 10pm of 22nd May, in a manner that is so Trump-esque, the president borrowed a leaf from the infamous American president and sent a tweet. In his tweet the president has listened to the plea of many Ugandans and decided to extend the SIM Card registration to the 30th of August, 2017. He however places a condition that Ugandans should respect the new deadline and have their cards registered or re-registered, or else their cards will be blocked for good.
“I have agreed to this proposal on condition that the new deadline will be respected. SIM card registration will therefore run until 30/8/2017” reads the tweet. The proposal to have the deadline extended by 3 months was presented to the president in an NRM caucus meeting. The extension comes at a time when there has been a growing tension between the executive arm of the Government and the Parliament. The Parliament last week passed a resolution to have the deadline extended to not more than a year.
Frank Tumwebaze, the ICT minister maintained that SIM cards that are not registered by the deadline would be closed. By midnight on Friday evening, a number of Ugandans fell victim, failing to make calls or receive messages. Their numbers were left with the option to withdraw mobile money that was left accessible. The law makers yesterday started mobilising and collecting signatures to have the minister impeached for what they called “undermining the authority of the legislature.”
The response by the president is a welcome move that will save many Ugandans from the fear and anxiety that they have been going through imagining a life without communication.
