IMANI Ghana petitons CHRAJ over EC’s disposal of election related equipment
It notes that the EC’s conduct evinces a conflict between its duties to judiciously apply the nation’s resources and its tendency to make a decision favorable to various commercial vendors.
Thinkthank, IMANI Ghana has petitioned CHRAJ over the Electoral Commission’s handling of the nation’s scarce resources in the discharge of its duties, which it believes amounts to misappropriation, wastage, and misuse.
It notes that the EC’s conduct evinces a conflict between its duties to judiciously apply the nation’s resources and its tendency to make a decision favorable to various commercial vendors.
The EC procured brand new sets of equipment, software, ancillaries, gadgets, etc. in 2020.
IMANI notes, however, that it opposed the said procurement action after examining the EC’s various claims.
It adds that the EC proceeded to procure a new BVMS and other equipment at great cost to the nation instead of replacing components of the BVRs that may be faulty beyond repair or genuinely unserviceable, as it had done in the past.
The petitioner further avers that the procurement process for the BVRs and BVDs was marked by controversy, which attracted additional criticism from its outfit and even led to the resignation of a chair of one procurement cycle.
Additionally, IMANI Ghana states that the procurement process for the ABIS software was shrouded in considerable secrecy, and thus attracted similar criticism from its outfit.
It adds that its vigilant monitoring has led to the discovery of thousands of BVMS components in a recycling plant operated by a company called Electro Recycling Ghana.
The petitioner notes further that the EC has issued a stream of responses following this, that have served to heighten their suspicion that the EC’s action amounts to a breach of the Code of Conduct of Public Officers.
IMANI thus posits that the EC’s approach to disposing of the electoral items was partly dictated by the need to suppress inventory records and to evade accountability.
Also, it states that the EC’s conduct in the affair breaches the high standards expected of such a major constitutional body, and the same constitutes an infraction of the laws.
Check out the full petition by IMANI Ghana below;
