The Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has described the attitude of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) toward the missing Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) at the headquarters of the Electoral Commission (EC) as disappointing.
He argued that the biometric kits going missing from the EC headquarters under the surveillance of CCTV cameras, unnoticed by the EC staff, is suspicious, emphasizing that the decision of the EC not to voluntarily divulge information about the theft is questionable.
“It was the NDC’s intelligence that picked up the theft case and questioned the EC in parliament. The question is but for the NDC’s intelligence picking this up, when will the EC have informed the political parties”.
Dr. Edward Omane Boamah
Furthermore, Dr. Omane Boamah revealed that the Electoral Commission was unable to answer most, “over 97%”, of the questions the NDC asked about the missing biometric device at the just concluded Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) briefing. “And do not be deceived that laptop is not a laptop my child plays with” he added.
He indicated that concerning the status and particulars of the stolen components of the BVRs the NDC asked the EC whether or not the missing laptops had been found and insisted that if they had been found the EC should provide the date, time, and where they have been found.
He revealed that the NDC also asked the EC who found the missing items or how these missing items were recovered while insisting that the EC disclose the actual number of laptops that were stolen and provide the serial numbers of the kits under discussion.
Moreover, he noted that the NDC demanded to know if the EC had officially recorded inventory of the missing items before the theft and also if the EC had the purchasing invoices together with serial numbers at the time of purchase of the missing items.
Most importantly, Dr. Omane Boamah indicated that the NDC representatives at the IPAC meeting also requested to know if there is a present inventory of such sensitive items to support a comprehensive inquiry that can ease the fears of stakeholders.
EC’s Legal Recourse
Concerning the investigation of the case and possible arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator, Dr. Omane Boamah disclosed that the EC had informed members of the IPAC that it had reported the issue to the police.
He noted, however, that to further understand the nature of the issue at hand, the NDC pressed for the EC to provide when (date & time using CCTV) the EC became aware that the items were missing and if the EC held a formal emergency meeting to discuss the missing items.
The NDC, he stated, also asked the EC to disclose who from the Electoral Commission made the report to the police, and the status of the report or if the police arrested the culprit.
He indicated that the NDC also requested copies of the statements or reports of the persons who were personally in charge of the lost kits if there were any, which the EC failed to provide.
Furthermore, Dr. Omane Boamah clarified that to ensure the incident does not repeat, the NDC requested to know what the protocols for the storage of such devices at the headquarters of the EC are and if these protocols were followed with respect to the missing items.
“Have all un-retrieved/missing BVDs been returned to the EC headquarters? What are the serial numbers of these BVDs? Which polling stations were the BVDs deployed to? What are the names of the persons who were in charge of the BVDs when the BVD were last deployed to polling stations?”
Dr. Edward Omane Boamah
Conclusively, the NDC Director of Elections noted that the NDC representative at the IPAC meeting also demanded to know how the BVDs are deployed and who has personal responsibility for the safe custody and return of BVDs deployed to polling stations.
He noted disappointedly that EC was unable to answer the question which would have rest assured Ghanaians of the credibility of the impending elections.
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