The Electoral Commission (EC) has said the conduct of the 2020 elections will not be impaired by Friday morning’s fire that destroyed part of its Greater Accra regional office at Sapeiman near Amasaman.
The electoral management body has assured the public that data at the office is “safe and secure” as the affected portion is the storage facility for electoral materials.
Public Relations Officer of the EC, Slyvia Annor, told Citi News preliminary investigations into the fire incident has also commenced to ascertain the cause of the inferno.
She further disclosed the fire will not affect the Commission’s work towards the December 7, 2020 polls.
“Portions of the Greater Accra regional office warehouse was gutted by fire in the early hours of today, Friday, destroying some old election materials that have been stored over the period but thankfully, the Ghana National Fire Service was able to stop the fire from spreading to the other offices.”
“The matter is being investigated by the Ghana National Fire Service as well as the security agencies and as soon as the report is ready, we will make it available. It is important to assure the general public that the fire outbreak will not affect the conduct of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections,” she said.
The fire started at about 2:30 am on Friday, August 14, 2020.
According to the police, they immediately informed the Ghana National Fire Service about the outbreak after they received the information.
Four fire tenders from Amasaman, Kotoku, Nsawam and Abelemkpe were brought onto the scene to quench the fire and provide security, a statement from the Greater Accra Command of the Ghana Police Service mentioned.
The EC in a separate statement said the fire did not affect the main administration block contrary to widespread reports on social media.
It said the fire struck the storage facility of the office and destroyed a number of used items including old forms, ballot boxes and referendum stationery and that its data centre is intact.
“The Commission entreats the general public to ignore the falsehood being peddled on social media to the effect that its Data Centre was destroyed by the fire. The Electoral Commission assures the general public that its Data Centre is safe and secure,” the statement noted.
