EC denies allegations of missing biometric verification devices
The Electoral Commission (EC) has denied the theft of seven missing Biometric Verification Devices (BVRs) from the EC’s stores.
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At a news conference in Accra and addressed by the Deputy Chairperson in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, the EC said no BVD had been stolen.
It was in response to allegations by the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, that seven of the biometric verification devices (BVDs) which the EC recently used to register and verify voters were missing.
Minority Leader
Dr Ato Forson said officials of the EC confirmed it during a meeting with the leadership of the Minority Caucus, led by the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, this week.
He subsequently called on the Ghana Police Service and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to expedite investigations and ascertain the whereabouts of the devices.
Briefing the press on the missing devices in Parliament yesterday, Dr Ato Forson said he heard of the incident but declined to come out immediately.
“I heard seven of the biometric devices are missing and I was curious about the matter and strangely I decided not to bring it out because we were to have a meeting with the EC.
“I could not attend that meeting but my deputy and other Minority leadership were at the meeting where the EC confirmed that seven of the biometric devices were indeed missing,” he said.
The Minority Leader said he was concerned and worried about the missing devices because being in the hands of an unknown person “can compromise future elections that Ghana will have.”
EC response
But Mr Tettey said the EC during a recent routine servicing of its Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Kits discovered the theft of five laptops from the kits.
He explained that BVR Kits, which comprise a laptop, camera, scanner, and printer, were entirely separate from the Commission’s Registration Data Systems and were incapable of manipulating election outcomes as suggested.
Mr Tettey said those kits, though crucial for voter registration, required specific activation to function accordingly.
“Without such activation, they serve no purpose beyond their individual components as a laptop, camera, scanner, or printer.
What this means is that, they are of no value beyond what they were manufactured to be.
“Similarly, the stolen laptops cannot be utilised for voter verification or registration. It remains just a laptop.
As such, they cannot be used to compromise our systems and undermine the credibility of the upcoming elections in December 2024,” he said.
Mr Tettey said the integrity of the EC’s systems and elections remained intact.
He said the EC placed high value on its assets including the BVR Kits and BVDs, hence its continuous reliance on the police and other security devices to protect all its installations.
“The Electoral Commission remains committed to upholding the highest standards of transparency and integrity in its operations and elections,” he said.
