Ruling party NRM chief whip, Ruth Nankabirwa has come out to defend government’s decision to switch off unregistered and unverified sim cards saying the process was being tested.
She unequivocally told those demanding for an apology from government that no one is sorry for inconveniences caused.
Nankabirwa told the media at parliament on Tuesday afternoon that government has been patient for so long and criminals have been taking the advantage to steal, kill and terrorize the innocent citizens.
“The SIM card registration and switching off non-compliant subscribers has been long overdue. The innocent citizens have on the other side been suffering the wrath of criminals capitalizing on loopholes in the system.”
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni after chairing the party caucus on Monday announced to Ugandans that the registration of sim cards had been extended to August this year.
His declaration followed cries from citizens after telecom firms on Friday last week disabled all unregistered sim cards.
The deactivation came against a backdrop of a motion passed by Parliamentarians earlier extending the registration.
But the minister of ICT Hon Frank Tumwebaze defied the MPs and ordered operators to main the status quo.
Thousands of subscribers, who duly registered and got clearance notifications, have however complained of being switched off by their respective telecom companies.
According to the Government Chief Whip, switching off of the registered subscribers was not a mistake but a deliberate testing of the system.
“The government was serious when we made the extension to 19th May. In the process of testing the system some of the registered customers have also been switched off,” she said.