The accused individuals, identified as Philip Tetteh, Benjamin Fienyi, Joseph Blackson Adamadze, and Clifford Yeboah, have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The charges against the accused include conspiracy to steal and stealing, with Yeboah additionally charged with dishonestly receiving stolen goods.
The case was brought before Halima Abdul El Lawal Basit, who has adjourned the hearing until April 29.
The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Christopher Wonder, requested additional time to conclude their investigations, arguing that granting bail to the accused individuals may interfere with the retrieval of the remaining Dell laptops, which contain sensitive data. Prosecutor Wonder revealed that the officers from the ICT Department of the Electoral Commission discovered the theft of five Dell laptops during routine maintenance on the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Kits on March 9, 2024.
Upon lodging a complaint with the National Security agency, all the accused persons were arrested. During the course of the investigation, three HP laptops, one HP printer, and three Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) printer chargers were retrieved from the accused.
These items are confirmed to be the property of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
According to Chief Inspector Wonder, investigations have unveiled that the commission engaged casual workers and security personnel in March 2023 to transfer materials from the old headquarters to a warehouse in Spintex. It was revealed that Fienyi and Adamadze conspired to steal some printers. Adamadze allegedly stole an HP printer from one of the BVR kits and handed it over to Fienyi, who also took three BVD printer chargers. Tetteh, on the other hand, is accused of stealing three HP laptops and arranging for Yeboah to repair two of them.
As the accused persons were charged and arraigned, the court has remanded them for two weeks to facilitate further investigations into the case.
This incident has raised concerns regarding the security of sensitive data and equipment related to the electoral process.
It remains to be seen how the court will proceed and what implications this incident may have on current and future electoral operations.
By Vincent Kubi
