The Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Asare, has reassured Ghanaians that the electoral body has a robust system.

This follows the Minority in Parliament's call for urgent action from the police following the disappearance of seven biometric devices, expressing concerns about potential ramifications for the upcoming December elections. 

The missing devices, intended for voter registration and verification by the Electoral Commission ahead of its limited registration exercise, have prompted the Minority to press for a swift investigation. 

According to Dr Asare, despite concerns about the missing electoral materials, their system is strong enough and cannot be breached.

Speaking at a press conference on March 20, he reiterated that the EC was committed to conducting transparent and credible elections, aiming for one of the best in the country's history.

“We are so robust to the extent that we are convinced that in 2024 come December 7, we are going to organise another transparent, credible election, which would go down as one of the best in the country. So again, our systems are very much secured.

"So, anyone who thinks something has happened and as a result of that there is a problem, we are convinced and we are certain that all our systems are active, all our systems are secured, and we are ready for the activities of the year," he said.

With regard to the missing equipment, he said that they are cooperating with the police to apprehend and prosecute the culprits involved in the theft.

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Also, he explained that when the current EC assumed office in August 2018, there was a $56 million contract to upgrade equipment for the 2018 referendum and the 2019 district-level election.

According to him, in 2020, the EC decided against spending $56 million of taxpayers' money solely to upgrade equipment for these events.

“The Commission took the decision not to sign that particular contract. So, in 2020, the Commission did an open international competitive tendering process to acquire new technology. The Commission was able to acquire about 8,500 biometric voter registration kits.

“We also acquired 80,000 verification devices. We have a new state-of-the-art data centre as well as a data recovery centre, and we also have software to be able to do the registration.

“All these things were acquired at a cost of almost $59 million. Just juxtapose that with 2018 only upgrading and refurbishing at $ 56 million. We had all this in 2020 at $59 million and those are the pieces of equipment that we are still using.”