A temporary official of the Electoral Commission is currently on the run after deceiving and receiving monies from unsuspecting public under the pretense of helping them acquire birth certificates.
Emmanuel Sawyer, a former student of Takoradi Technical University is reported to have received monies ranging from Ghc 200 to Ghc 1,000 to help facilitate the swift processing of birth certificates for the victims.
“He rejected my call and rather sent me a video of him taking part in the voter register exhibition exercise as an official. That was an excuse to avoid my calls because when he closed he never returned my call,” one of the victims narrated.
According to the victims, Emmanuel speaks convincingly to get them to believe that their certificate will be given to them within the stipulated time.
But after sending him the money for the job, he kept them waiting and continued to postpone the date the certificate would be ready then blocked them from reaching him on phone after some time.
“It appears he works with a cartel because when I started mounting pressure on him to produce my certificate, he sent me a contact of a man called Mr. Tony who he claimed to be the officer who worked on my certificate. This was after three months I gave him money to help me get my certificate in two weeks,” the victim recounted.
Another victim (name withheld) told crimecheckghana.org that he paid almost Ghc 1,000 for a birth certificate, which would have cost Ghc 400.
“After almost half a year I gave him Ghc 400 to get me the certificate, he lied to me and tossed me about. On one occasion, he lied to me to wait for him around the Police headquarters. I stood there the whole day and he never showed up. I had to pay additional money and get some other people involved before finally, I finally got my certificate. I want to arrest him,” he said.
Crime Check Foundation (CCF) urges the general public to report to the nearest police station or contact CCF if Emmanuel is spotted.
