IMANI Centre for Policy & Education has filed a formal petition to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), calling for an urgent investigation into what it describes as grave constitutional, statutory, and administrative breaches by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana in relation to the controversial disposal of electoral equipment.

In a statement released by Franklin Cudjoe, Executive Director of IMANI, the think tank accuses the EC of engaging in a “firesale” of valuable electoral machinery, including laptops, digital cameras, fingerprint verifiers, printers, and scanners, under circumstances IMANI believes demonstrate “misappropriation”, “wastage”, and “misuse” of public resources.

“At a time when the nation cannot service its debts and is navigating a stringent IMF-supervised fiscal regime,” Mr Cudjoe said, “such egregious conduct cannot be tolerated.”

https://imaniafrica.org/2024/05/petition-to-investigate-the-electoral-commissions-conduct-in-the-retirement-and-disposal-of-elections-related-equipment

According to the petition, tens of thousands of devices were prematurely retired and sold off under what IMANI describes as murky conditions, seemingly to benefit undisclosed commercial interests.

The group alleges that these decisions reflect a troubling conflict between the EC’s legal responsibility to manage public resources judiciously and a propensity to favour certain vendors.

IMANI contends that the equipment in question does not all date back to 2011 or 2012, as the EC has consistently claimed.

Rather, it consists of a mixture of items procured and refurbished between 2011 and 2019, undermining the narrative that the entire portfolio had become obsolete. The group alleges that the most valuable assets were cherry-picked by unnamed bidders, while the remainder were discarded as scrap.

“This is not merely a matter of procurement gone wrong,” the statement reads. “It is about a systemic attempt to erase inventory records and hide the truth about the EC’s procurement history over the last four years.”

Beyond financial mismanagement, IMANI also raises serious concerns about the security implications of the EC’s actions. The disposed equipment reportedly contains sensitive biometric data and voter records, posing a national security threat should such data fall into the wrong hands.

IMANI argues that the EC and its commercial partners lacked the certifications necessary to handle or dispose of such high-risk information responsibly.

“The disposal process failed to meet even the most basic standards of data protection,” Mr Cudjoe noted. “This places the privacy and safety of citizens in jeopardy and could undermine the integrity of Ghana’s electoral process.”

To ensure a comprehensive review, Mr Cudjoe disclosed that he has also directed the matter for potential referral to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for a specialised corruption risk assessment.

IMANI has pledged to keep the public informed on the progress of the case and any further steps it may take.

“We hope that the institutions we are investing our hopes in shall not fail Ghanaians,” Mr Cudjoe concluded.