STATEMENT: SIM CARD REGISTRATION IN ZAMBIA - THE AIRTEL SCANDAL [By Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda – 19th January 2014] I shall be giving an update on the Sim Card Crusade this week. In the meantime I wish to inform the general public of the following two mobile text messages I received from Airtel, titled SimRegister: a. Text Number 1: “Dear Customer, we are pleased to inform you that your SIM card has been successfully registered with Airtel. Dial *538# to confirm your registration. 14.16 16 Jan [1].” b. Text Number 2: “Dear Customer, we are pleased to inform you that your SIM card has been successfully registered with Airtel. Dial *538# to confirm your registration. 14.21 16 Jan [1].” This is a scandal because I have not applied to Airtel or any other Service Provider nor filled in forms to register my simcards and/or other such gadgets under the Sim Card exercise. So how did Airtel successfully register my simcards? Who supplied my particulars, and, more ominously, who signed on my behalf since these forms require the signature of the applicant? In fact this is more than just a scandal but it is a forgery. It even qualifies to be defamatory because I publicly announced that I am NOT going to register and I have NOT applied to register! How many people have been registered without applying? I have NOT and will NOT ‘dial*538#’ to confirm what I did not do. With this revelation, it is possible to speculate that these people (government included) can assign a crime to me and say I used my phone for criminal activities. In fact they can even vote for me without my knowledge! Zambians must see why it is necessary to join the Sim card Crusade and get the Government to revisit this ill-conceived project for fund-raising. I have written to Airtel (just as I have written to ZAMTEL on another issue – letter attached) to request them to send me a copy of the application form that I allegedly filled in, complete with my signature. GODFREY MIYANDA, BRIGADIER...
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 05:20:45 +0000