The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Aseidu Nketiah, has cast doubt on the Electoral Commission’s (EC) assertion that no Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) are missing.
Asiedu Nketiah suggests that the devices are intentionally being withheld by someone within the system. His comments follow allegations made by the Minority in Parliament on March 19, claiming the disappearance of some Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) from the Electoral Commission’s possession.
Despite the EC’s insistence that only five laptops are missing and that all BVDs are intact, Asiedu Nketiah, in an interview on Asempa FM, argued that the BVDs come equipped with tracking capabilities and cannot simply vanish without leaving a trace.
He criticized the EC for its failure to identify the responsible party for the alleged loss, despite the devices being closely monitored 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.
