Source: The Statesman,
Credible information available to the New Statesman indicates that the ruling National Democratic Congress has prepared itself to electronically rig the 2012 December elections, with the aid of Chinese firm Huawei.
Following the announcement by the former Director of Operations of the Electoral Commission, David Kanga, to the effect that the EC was adequately prepared to transmit this year?s election results electronically and could declare the results within 24 hours, the NDC, with the help of Huawei has set up data centres, equipped with signal jamming equipment.
Saturday?s jamming of all mobile networks in the country, particularly that of MTN, according to officials at the NDC data centre was a test run of the efficacy of the equipment delivered by Huawei as the NDC is aware of the fact that most political parties intend transmitting their results using the telecom networks in the country.
The planned jamming of MTN signals, in particular, on December 7 is because it has the largest network coverage in the country and the NDC anticipates most political parties who intend transmitting results electronically will do so using MTN.
Telecom companies are not the only organisations that have been targeted by the NDC?s jamming equipment. Radio and Television stations that have been identified by the NDC as inimical to their cause of desperately hanging onto power will also see their service interrupted and unavailable to the Ghanaian public.
Already, TV network, Net2, has seen its signals in Accra completely taken off air and can be viewed only in some remote areas in the country.
The NDC ?love affair? with Huawei began after the cancellation of the contract between the government of Ghana and ZTE for the e-government project, a move which has caused financial loss to the state. The government of Ghana after cancelling the original contract then offered the project to Huawei and subsequently offered them some US$43 million tax exemption on a US$150 million e-government project.
Sources tell the New Statesman that Huawei in turn has provided the NDC with its data centre fitted with equipment designed, to among others, jam telecom networks in the country.
Also, Huawei has printed NDC paraphernalia, such as t-shirts, key holders, and handkerchiefs with two Chinese-based companies to the tune of about US$150,000 between March and July 2012.
The first invoice from Chinaband International Limited dated March 3, 2012 showed that Huawei paid US$62,698 for 50,000 t-shirts bearing the picture of the late President John Evans Ata Mills and the NDC logo (the umbrella). Huawei Ghana received the consignment on May 9, 2012.
Another invoice from Chinaband International Limited, dated April 3, 2012, also showed Huawei paid US$34,794.21 for 25,000 t-shirts bearing the picture of the sitting President John Dramani Mahama, and Huawei received that consignment on July 26, 2012, two days after the death of President Ata Mills.
The third invoice was dated May 5, 2012 and it was from Richfile Industrial (Shenzhen) Company Limited; it showed that Huawei paid US$42,040 for 30,000 t-shirts, 20,000 handkerchiefs and 10,000 key holders bearing the pictures of NDC logo, late President Ata Mills, and the Ghana flag.
