A 52-year-old man, Samuel Yaw Koranteng, has been arrested in Nsawam for allegedly possessing a Biometric Verification Device (BVD) believed to belong to the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana.
The device has serial number S/N : VVD49976I, IMEI 1: 353997073099764I and IMEI 2 : 353997073499766.
The suspect, who resides in Tudu, Accra, was apprehended on Friday morning by local residents.
Upon hearing of the arrest, some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) rushed to the scene to capture videos and pictures of both the suspect and the device before handing Koranteng over to the police.
In a video, the suspect Samuel Koranteng claimed that he received the device from an individual named Farouk. “The person who gave the device to me is called Farouk Mahama. I don’t know what device it is. So I am ready to go to the police,” he said during interrogation.
The incident has reignited concerns surrounding the security of the EC’s biometric systems.
Electoral Commission, in a press release dated 26th April, 2024 explained following a similar incident when some biometric verification devices were sighted at a recycling plant at Madina, a suburb of Accra, that they were legally auctioned to a private recycling plant due to how obsolete the machines were.
It is not clear if this latest device found in the possession of an individual at Nsawam is part of these devices.
The NDC has consistently claimed that five biometric verification devices have gone missing from the EC’s custody, although the EC maintains that only five laptops used in biometric voter registration are unaccounted for.
This arrest comes on the heels of a related case where three EC employees and a student were remanded into police custody over the theft of electronic equipment belonging to the Commission. The accused—Philip Lartey, a laborer; Benjamin Fienyi, a security man; Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, a Database Administrator; and Clifford Yeboah, a student—are facing charges of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and dishonestly receiving.
Court documents reveal that the theft occurred during routine maintenance of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Kits in March 2024.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
