EC Dismisses Missing BVDs Claim But Admit 5 Laptops Are Nowhere To Be Found

The Electoral Commission (EC) has debunked claims by the Minority in Parliament that seven of its Biometric Verification Devices (BVD) are missing.

The Minority Caucus raised concerns about the stolen BVD machines on Tuesday, March 19, with Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, calling on the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to promptly investigate the matter.

The opposition expressed the fear that the stolen biometric devices could have dire repercussions on the upcoming December 7, 2024, general elections.

“The Electoral Commission confirms that seven biometric devices are indeed missing. I urge the CID and the Ghana Police Service to immediately issue a statement giving us details of their investigations so far,” Dr.  Ato Forson said.

The EC reacting to the matter in a press conference on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, said none of its biometric verification device had gone missing.

The Commissioner in charge of Operations of EC, Mr. Samuel Tettey, who addressed the press conference said, only five of the EC’s laptops are missing.

For all, all the biometric verification devices are well secured and protected.

He explained that the missing laptops do not have any sensitive information on them, stressing that the stolen laptops will not impact the integrity of the 2024 elections.

“To set the records straight, the commission recently undertook routine servicing of its biometric voter registration kits. It was during this maintenance that we discovered the theft of five laptops from the biometric voter registration kits not seven BVD as erroneously stated,”Mr. Tettey indicated. 

He added that “For clarification, biometric voter registration kits which comprise a laptop, camera, scanner, and printer are entirely separated from the Commission’s registration data systems and are incapable of manipulating elections outcomes as suggested. These kits though crucial for voter registration, requires specific activation to function accordingly”.