[ 2016-12-06 ]

Four Telcos Minus STL Involved! in election transmission results
Rumours circulating in the political grapevine
that Super Tech Limited (STL) will be among the
companies selected to be part of the electronic
transmission of the results of Election 2016 on
December 7, 2016 have turned out to be completely
false, independent checks by The New Crusading
GUIDE have confirmed.

Our checks at the Electoral Commission(EC) have
indicated that four (4) telecommunication networks
in the country; namely TIGO, MTN, VODAFONE and
AIRTEL are the entities which have been contracted
to undertake the transmission of the election
results from the Constituency Collation Centres to
the National Collation Centre in Accra.

“The STL has no role to play in the results
transmission process. TIGO, MTN, VODAFONE and
AIRTEL are those who will do the transmission.
Everything else will be the responsibility of the
Electoral Commission”, articulated a
highly-placed source at the EC.

Our Source explained that the four telcos were
selected through an open system that was
advertised. The country was divided into zones and
for each zone, tenders were evaluated and awarded.
The other telcos will provide back-up services.

“We worked with them (telcos) through the
Telecoms Chamber. So if the primary telco’s
network goes down, the other telcos will provide
back-up”, clarified the EC Source.

It was also revealed that the Election Management
Authority of Zambia provided the software and
helped its Ghanaian counterpart (EC) with software
customization. Some Technical Personnel of EC
Zambia are in Ghana to provide technical support
for the process.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that the rumours
that the STL would be part of the transmission of
results of the 2016 Elections cannot and are not
true.

It will be recalled that during Election 2016,
rumours of alleged electronic manipulation of
election results, resulted in the massing up of an
angry crowd made up of NPP supporters near their
(STL) Dzorwulu offices. It took the timely
intervention of the high-powered ECOWAS Election
observer Team led by former Nigerian President
General Olusegun Obasanjo and the Security
Services to restore order and calm the tensed
situation which occurred.

Subsequent independent investigations by The New
Crusading GUIDE have shown that those rumours were
unfounded. The STL played no role in the
transmission of election results in 2012 even
though some political circles continue to persist
in circulating that rumour and falsehood.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission, on Saturday,
November 26, 2016, demonstrated the results
transmission system to all the political parties
contesting the December 7 general elections. So
far, no political party has expressed
dissatisfaction with the demonstration and the
arrangements set out to go with the system on the
D-Day.

In an interview with James Kwabena Bonfeh, the
Director of Elections of the Convention Peoples
Party (CPP), he expressed satisfaction at the
demonstration saying “if things would go the way
they demonstrated it, then we will surely get a
very transparent credible results.”

Beyond the electronic transmission by the four
telcos, Mr Bonfeh popularly known as Kabila
further explained that “it is a two-way process.
Hard copies of the Constituency collation sheets
would also be sent to the National Collation
Centre to authenticate each other before
declaration”.

When contacted, Mr Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah,
Director of Elections of the New Patriotic Party
also expressed satisfaction at the demonstration
of transmission of election results and hoped
“there will be no unforeseen hitches on the day
of election”.

Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, a Vice Chairperson and in
charge of elections of the ruling National
Democratic Congress could not express his views
with The New Crusading GUIDE yesterday as he said
he was at a rally in Volta Region.

Source - New Crusading Guide

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