A civil society group, Mass Action Committee has debunked the accusations against the Electoral Commission (EC) for procuring a new voters’ registration kit in spite of the current robust conditions of the kit.
The group alleged that a letter sighted by them which was a correspondence between the vendor, SuperTech Ghana Ltd (STL) and the manufacturers of the kit, HSB Identification B.V. on May 18, 2018 relative to the repairs of faulty BVRs indicated that items in the BVR kit including the laptops were no longer serviceable.
At a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, Atik Mohammed, Executive Secretary of the group, said correspondence was in sharp contrast to the claim by individuals and groups the kit was in good shape and replacement of some of the parts could put them in good shape for this year’s election per conversation they had with the manufacturer through email correspondence.
The media engagement was to correct distortions as well as point out untruths being peddled by those against the compilation of a new voters’ register.
Mr Mohammed noted that “the fundamental concern has caused the EC to suggest the production of a new voters’ register bordered on technical viability of the Biometric Verification Management System (BVMS) which is obsolete.
“The conclusion that the equipment is obsolete was reached based on its performance, views of manufacturer and vendor however, unfortunate to observe a group purports to resist a new voters’ register have attempted in their latest stunt, to insinuate the EC claim about obsolete equipment was sheer lies.
“The correspondence between vendor and manufacturer to the EC shows the EC neither lied nor erred in its claim the verification equipment is obsolete and Ghanaians should support their effort to deliver a new voters’ register going into the next elections.
“The vendor and manufacturer insistence verification equipment is obsolete and further unambiguously recommend for purpose of availability, maintainability and compatibility in future, new BVR kit should be purchased, it cannot be the case the EC delivered well packaged lies as being alleged.
“If there are any packaged lies, they will most likely be originating from supposed email exchange whose authenticity cannot be verified on the face of it,” Mr Mohammed stressed.
BY LAWRENCE MARKWEI
