New voter register: We’re investigating allegations of multiple bidding by the EC – IMANI

Policy think-tank IMANI Africa, says it is investigating serious allegations of multiple bidding breaches by the Electoral Commission (EC) in its decision to procure new equipment and systems to compile a new voter register.

According to them, the EC is now in a ‘desperate and unholy haste’ to find a way to get a firm named THALES, a company marred in multiple scandals and breaches worldwide, to supply the software for the equipment.

Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons during a presentation in Accra on what he calls ‘fresh evidence on the EC’s lies’ about the current state of the biometric system’ claimed the EC is using underhand subcontracting through its consultant in navigating the procurement process.

“Fairgreen Limited, has metamorphosized into a supplier of some of the equipment and this will validate our suspicions that the existing system was purposefully bastardized to create room for gargantuan procurement for the selfish interest of key decision-makers,” Simons said.

IMANI, however, says that there’s new evidence that establishes that the decision by the EC in such a pivotal election year is just to pave the way for a ‘corrupt procurement gig’.

Since announcing its decision to acquire a new biometric voter management system (BVMS) and compile a new voters register, the EC has received the support of 13 political parties, led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), while the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register (IPRAN), which includes the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has kicked against the acquisition and the compilation.