The Electoral Commission of Ghana has refuted claims and assertions from Ghanaians that the electoral material bags designated for constituencies in Koforidua in the Eastern Region have been tampered with.

Speaking to Channel One TV on November 29, 2024, the Eastern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, John Appiah Baffoe, explained that the broken seal incident occurred during the loading and offloading of the electoral material bags into the transport vehicles.

According to him, the Electoral Commission swiftly took action to address the issue in collaboration with representatives from the two main political parties, assuring that everything in the bags remained intact, contrary to earlier claims.

“Because of the packing and unpacking of the bags, one of the seals got broken. So when we identified it, we brought the two parties together to check the content and we found that everything was intact. We resealed the bags and the issue has been resolved,” he explained.

Appiah Baffoe therefore assured that the issues have been resolved.

The EC official’s comments come in the wake of viral videos where bags belonging to the Electoral Commission filled with ballot papers and were being transported to one of the constituencies in the Eastern Region were found with their seals broken.

Meanwhile, The Ghana Police Service in a statement shared on social media on Friday, November 29, 2024, explained that the seals were broken in the course of the transportation of the electoral materials.

It indicated that all the stakeholders involved in the transportation of the materials, including officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the representatives of all the political parties, have confirmed that the content of the bag whose seal was broken has not been tampered with.

“The Ghana Police Service wishes to inform the public that an incident involving the broken seal of one electoral material bag in Koforidua, intended for distribution to one of the constituencies within the Eastern Region, has been successfully resolved.

“It has been revealed that when the bags were removed from the armory, one of the seals was found to be off. It has been established that this occurred as a result of the packing and unpacking of the bags,” part of the statement reads.

The police added, “The broken seal has been found and the contents of the bag have been confirmed to be intact by the stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission and representatives of the political parties who witnessed the incident.”

MAG/MA