CHRAJ Upholds IMANI’s Petition Against EC, Orders Probe into Electoral Equipment Disposal Scandal
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has upheld a petition by the IMANI Africa Centre for Policy and Education, dismissing the Electoral Commission’s (EC) attempt to block an investigation into alleged constitutional, statutory, and administrative breaches related to the controversial disposal of election equipment as scrap.
The ruling, announced Tuesday, paves the way for a full probe into what IMANI describes as “misappropriation, wastage, and misuse” of public resources amid Ghana’s economic challenges.
IMANI’s Executive Director, Franklin Cudjoe, commended the decision as “a vital step toward justice, accountability, and administrative propriety in Ghana’s electoral processes.” The petition, filed on May 6, 2025, accuses the EC of failing to manage state assets prudently, including the “firesale” of thousands of biometric voter management system (BVMS) components—like laptops, scanners, and fingerprint verifiers—to a recycling plant in Accra in 2024, without proper certification or data protection. IMANI alleges the disposal suppressed inventory records and evaded accountability, potentially compromising voter privacy and election integrity.
CHRAJ, invoking Chapters 18 and 24 of the 1992 Constitution, rejected the EC’s jurisdictional challenge, affirming its mandate to investigate public officer misconduct. “This confirms that no public institution is above scrutiny,” Cudjoe stated, praising legal counsel Gyandoh Asmah & Co. for “exceptional representation.” The commission will now examine the EC’s handling of the equipment, valued at tens of millions of dollars, including whether it breached the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), and data protection laws.
The dispute stems from IMANI’s August 2024 discovery of BVMS parts at Electro Recycling Ghana, sparking public outrage and EC defenses of “obsolescence.” Critics, including IMANI Vice President Kofi Bentil, have long accused the EC of opacity, with a decade of feuds culminating in court orders ignored by the commission.
