Asiedu Nketia
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has once again voiced its apprehension regarding the stolen Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits belonging to the Electoral Commission (EC), as tensions escalate over the security of the electoral process.
Revealed in April, the EC disclosed that a number of BVR kits h ad been pilfered from its possession. Subsequently, three individuals were apprehended and are currently under police custody in connection with the missing BVR kits.
In the midst of this development, the NDC formalized a request to the EC for the provision of the serial numbers of the BVR kits currently deployed for the ongoing Limited Voter Registration exercise, heightening concerns over potential misuse of the stolen equipment.
National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, raised suspicions during a press briefing on Thursday, May 9, 2024, stating, “The NDC has always been suspicious that the stolen kits could be used to illegally register some people in order to add them to the voters register to enable them to vote on December 7, 2024. That remains our suspicion.”
However, the EC, in a statement issued on the same day, stood firm in its refusal to disclose the serial numbers of the BVR kits to external entities, citing profound security risks that could be posed to the electoral system and the credibility of its operations.
The statement from the EC emphasized, “Releasing these serial numbers to any external parties, including political entities, poses a substantial risk to the security and integrity of our registration processes. That is why this has never been done since the biometric voting system was introduced in Ghana.”
Despite assuring transparency and accountability in the conduct of the voter registration exercise, the EC underscored the gravity of security concerns linked to the dissemination of BVR kit serial numbers. The Commission accentuated its commitment to safeguarding the electoral process and warned against compromising the integrity of the system.
By Vincent Kubi