Electoral Chiefs In Jo’burg

TWELVE Electoral Commission (EC) officials are in South Africa to proof-read the ballot papers ordered for the upcoming LC3 and LC4 elections, reports Yunusu Abbey. Commissioner Teddy Wamusi, in-charge of procurement and the newly-appointed commissioner, Sister Margaret Magooba, who heads the legal and public relations department, are on the team. “Since it’s a very big consignment, where over 60 million ballot papers will be printed and involves 12,179 variations, the team will spend about two weeks in South Africa,” said a source. The commission awarded the contract to South Africa’s Lithotec Ltd to supply at least 60 million ballot papers on November 16. Lithotec was notified about the award on November 22 while the proof-reading team left for Johannesburg a week later. “This has since raised queries from other interested companies who suspect foul play,” said another source. “The delegation, which was last week barred from travelling at the last minute, was later allowed to leave for Johannesburg after a State House meeting decided the contract award to Lithotec Ltd. should be upheld,” said a source. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) had wanted the award stopped pending investigations. Recently, the IGG, Mr. Jotham Tumwesigye, told The New Vision he had received complaints over the way Lithotec got the job and how the tender was handled. “A meeting convened in the Prime Minister’s office last week failed to resolve the dispute. The IGG and Miria Matembe, ethics and integrity state minister, had insisted the contract should be re-tendered,” said the source. “Tumwesigye and Matembe argued that since it had been alleged that some government officials were linked to Lithotec, it would be unfair to award them the contract which was not through an open tender,” the source added. “It was not until the matter was taken to State House that a verdict was made,” said the source. The State House night meeting which President Yoweri Museveni chaired, decided that due to limited time and lack of concrete evidence on the allegations, Lithotec should be allowed to supply the ballot papers,” the source added. Sources said even while in State House, Tumwesigye and Matembe maintained that the Electoral Commission had mishandled the tender. But the commission reportedly insisted it had followed the tender regulations and consulted SWIPCO, which vets all government procurement, and the Central Tender Board (CTB). The commission said it had, through selective bidding, invited three companies which had previously supplied the ballot papers. The firms were De La Rue of UK, which supplied the 1996 Presidential elections ballot papers and South Africa’s Advanced Printing, the supplier of the 1998 LC elections. Ends