Claims that the Electoral Commission (EC) recycled ten Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) at a loss to the state have been denied.
The Commission made it clear in a statement on Friday, April 26, that the ten BVDs discovered at a recycling facility in Madina, Accra, were outdated gadgets that had been legitimately auctioned off.
The statement claims that the present Commission utilized these outdated BVDs, which were purchased before to the 2012 elections, for the 2019 District Level Elections (DLE).
The Commission clarified that, in spite of the managers of the Commission’s Biometric Infrastructure’s warning that the technology was outdated and no longer usable, the previous administration had intended to fix the outdated devices for the 2018 referendum and the 2019 District Level Elections.
However, in an effort to guarantee responsible resource management and the integrity of the electoral process, the present Commission decided to scrap the renovation plan and buy new machinery instead. The Commission noted that the state saved millions of cedis as a result of this decision.
The Commission denied any misconduct claims and insisted that the gadgets were publicly auctioned off, with the revenues properly going into the Consolidated Fund.
In addition, the Commission denounced the civil society organization IMANI Africa for claims and remarks made on this issue by one of its representatives, Bright Simons. It charged Mr. Bright Simons and IMANI Africa of misleading the public.
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