The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has challenged the Electoral Commission (EC) to publish names of its staff who have been arrested in connection with the alleged theft of five Biometric Verification Registration (BVR) devices.
The election management body, after series of denial, recently confirmed that some of its BVRs had been stolen from its stores, raising eyebrows in the country. As the main opposition NDC mounted pressure on the EC to find the equipment, the Commission reported that some staff had been interdicted in connection with the stolen BVRs.
Earler this week, the Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, told new men that the Commission had handed over some 5 individuals suspected to be involved in the alleged theft of the BVR devices to the police.
Speaking to JoyNews on April 13, Dr Quaicoe disclosed the police began investigating the matter about a month ago when the electoral body officially noticed the BVRs were missing.
“So they have been interdicted and they are now going through the security investigation. I am told that they will be arraigned before court soon. If they are found guilty, the law should deal with them,” he said while urging Ghanaians that there was no cause for alarm about the missing BVRs since they have not been activated.
But in a reaction to the development, Asiedu Nketiah, Chairman of the NDC cast doubt over the assertions of Dr Quaicoe and urged the EC to publish the names of the staff who had been handed over to the police.
Speaking on Inside Politics on TV XYZ, Asiedu Nketia also known as General Mosquito quizzed: “Who are those people who have been arrested? have they published anyone’s name? Don’t they have names? Why have they not been exposed?”
“The persons who have stolen the equipment can register people elesewhere into the ECs database. We have seen NPP affiliated persons taken peoples’ Ghana card outside Ghana elsewhere. Tell us those you have apprehended,” he said in Akan.
Concerns
Meanwhile, Civil Society Organisation CARE Ghana has cautioned that the missing biometric verification devices (BVDs) belonging to the Electoral Commission (EC) can negatively affect the integrity of the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Executive Director of CARE Ghana, David Kumi Addo, who spoke on TV XYZ evening news posited that the stolen devices can be used to disrupt the upcoming limited registration exercise to be conducted by the EC and the December 7 elections if the electoral management body fails to find the kits.
“This is a national issue and I think all Ghanaians must be interested in this matter,” Kumi Addo told Oheneba Boamah Bennie.
“These devices can be used to delete the data of the EC, transfer voters from one constituency to the other and cause confusion on election day,” he added.
By: Henryson Okrah /Myxyzonline.com
