By Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has raised skepticism regarding the Electoral Commission’s (EC) claim that no Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) are missing.
Asiedu Nketiah has suggested that the devices are deliberately being withheld by someone within the system. His remarks come in the wake of allegations made by the Minority in Parliament on March 19, asserting the disappearance of some Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) from the Electoral Commission’s possession.
Despite the EC’s assertion that only five laptops are missing and that all BVDs are accounted for, Asiedu Nketiah, speaking in an interview on Asempa FM, argued that BVDs are equipped with tracking capabilities and cannot simply vanish without leaving a trace.
He criticized the EC for its failure to pinpoint the responsible party for the alleged loss, especially considering the close monitoring of the devices during distribution and collection.
“The BVDs are not missing, someone is keeping them. Because if you say they have gone missing, there are trails for you to zero into the person who has the ones that have gone missing. If you were able to do that and arrest the culprit, you would have been fair. But if you come out to tell us that the BVDs are missing, it will not work,” he stated.
Asiedu Nketiah announced plans to call for a technical audit of the EC’s IT system by external partners to verify the integrity of the electoral process.
He emphasized the need for certification to ensure that all components are secure and functioning correctly, underscoring the importance of transparency and trust in the electoral system.
“It has become impossible to believe what the electoral commission is saying about the missing BVDs. Because from the distribution and the collection stage of the BVDs, [they] have trackers. This is even more serious than ballot papers,” he added.
Asiedu Nketiah expressed concern that the alleged disappearance of BVDs could potentially compromise the election process, as they are crucial for collating and announcing results.
