The Inter-party Resistance against the New Voters Register said it has gathered new evidence that indicates the current BVRs and BVDs are robust and fit for purpose and can indeed be upgraded for the impending 2020 general elections.
According to the group, its inquiries from the manufacturers of the equipment indicate they are not obsolete as being claimed by the Electoral Commission.
At a press conference addressed by the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Inter-Party Resistance indicated it contacted HSB Identification BV of Holland, the manufacturers of the current equipment who assured that the current BVRs are not obsolete.
And that though the computer operating system software of the current BVRs needs to be upgraded, components like fingerprints scanners are very robust and fit for use.
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Mr. Asiedu Nketiah noted that the manufacturer assured that the enrollment software could easily be upgraded with facial recognition, a feature that has been incorporated in the new software release.
HSB identifications BV, he said, has expressed the willingness to assist the EC to carry out these upgrades upon request.
The group, he said, also contacted GenKey Africa, suppliers of the current BVDs to enquire about the 72,000 BVD equipment they supplied the EC and whether these equipment are obsolete and whether they cannot be upgraded at a cost.
GenKey Africa, the NDC Secretary said, contradicted claims by the EC that the 72,000 BVDs they supplied are obsolete, insisting they are robust and efficient.
The BVDs, he said, are upgradeable.
The company, he said, has presented a proposal to the EC for the upgrade at a cost far cheaper than the cost of replacing the current equipment with new ones.
“Suffice it to say that the Jean Mensah-led EC has been telling well-packaged lies to Ghanaians; lies deliberately calculated to court public support for compilation of a new voters register.”
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“These falsehoods, coupled with the raging controversy over corrupt tender processes for the supply of new BDV equipment and the announcement of a winner with a questionable record, clearly show that something fishy is going on at the EC.”
“It is either Jean Mensah, and her sponsors have a financial interest in the procurement of entirely new equipment or that the compilation of a new register is part of a rigging agenda for the benefit of NPP or both,” he stated.
He stressed that the EC has been caught red-handed and demanded the Chairperson to provide the report of the IT consultant that formed the basis of the decision to compile a new voters register.
Jean Mensah, he said, may feel confident with the support of the NPP government but stressed the ruling party today will not be available to protect her on the day of reckoning.
The Resistance, he said, will escalate its actions to drum home further the voice of Ghanaians on this wasteful expenditure.
According to him, they will do everything within the remit of the law to resist the devious machinations and reckless attempts of the EC to waste the public purse on a needless compilation of a new voter register that has the potential to jeopardize Ghana’s fledgling democracy and the peace and stability of the country.
