The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, claims that the Electoral Commission (EC) is not being transparent about the missing laptops and BVR kits.
According to him, if the EC is insisting that the public should not be worried about the missing BVR kits, then they should provide answers. “Where are the missing BVR kits?” Asiedu asked the EC.
He argued that if the EC has nothing to hide, they should not create unnecessary noise and should address the issue promptly.
In an interview with JoyNews, on Thursday, Mr. Asiedu Nketia explained that the demands the NDC is making of the EC are reasonable and aimed at ensuring transparency.
“They have every capacity to respond to those demands without creating any problem. The fact that they are refusing to open up is a source of worry and it will continue to be the source of worry because I think that if they don’t have anything to hide, opening up will have resolved this matter long ago.”
“First of all you are keeping these machines. They are security machines and they are kept under lock and key. Apart from that you have CCTV surveillance, you have physical security surveillance, you have the military deployed 24 hours, police deployed 24 hours, and armoured car in front of the Electoral Commission. Apart from that, individual commissioners are protected by army personnel,” he said.
Mr. Nketia emphasised that the EC has all these security measures in place, yet some equipment went missing. The NDC is therefore, simply asking for an explanation. If there was a break-in, he said it should be possible to examine the locks for evidence. “So far, no break-in,” he said
“You have a CCTV surveillance 24 hours, what story is the CCTV telling us? You said nobody should know, and the fact that this equipment got missing, if you are open, the very first day you detect that these things are missing, what will you do? You will inform Ghanaians, you will inform the people that these sensitive equipment has gotten missing and we are on the lookout for them.
“This equipment went missing, nobody heard about it until there was some rumour and our members of parliament questioned EC officials in parliament, where they had gone for a different assignment. They didn’t have any option than to admit that some of the things got missing, then the minority leader addresses a press conference and put it in the public domain that some equipment have gotten missing, you react swiftly that no such equipment has been missing from your place.
“Then we call an IPAC meeting to go and find out what was happening then it was the IPAC meeting that you now admit that indeed things were missing. So we are saying that if it is public property that has gotten missing, what are you hiding about the fact that they have gotten missing, what are you hiding about the identity of the exact equipment that got missing?”
He said the EC is providing conflicting accounts about the issue, which is concerning. He asserted that the EC should identify the missing items and their serial numbers so that everyone in Ghana is aware. “So when anybody detects it anywhere then we all know that it cannot be part of the process.”