Ballot Papers Arrive

SEVEN tonnes of ballot papers to be used in the March 7, 2001 presidential elections arrived in the country last night, reports Felix Osike, Geoffrey Kamali and Yunus Abbey. The consignment, which arrived aboard a DAS Air Cargo plane, is part of a larger 30 tonne shipment of 10 million ballot papers, expected to be delivered by this week. The Electoral Commission (EC) deputy chairperson, Florence Nkurukenda, the head of election management, Joshua Wamala and procurement officer, Milton Kanzira, received the delivery. A representative of presidential candidate, Yoweri Museveni, Mr. Elijah Mushemeza, and that of Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Mr. Geresom Oketcho, were also present as the plane touched down at 8.20pm. Other presidential candidates, Kibirige Mayanja, Aggrey Awori and Chapaa Karuhanga did not send representatives, although they had been invited, said Nkurukenda. "We were expecting nine tonnes but we have been told there was not enough space on the aircraft," she said. The Johannesburg-based Lithotec was contracted to supply 10 million ballot papers. The consignment is worth over US$240,000. Last week, Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye's team petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC) contesting the ballot paper tender award to Lithotec. They claimed MP Sam Kuteesa and Museveni's national task force chairman Al-Hajji Moses Kigongo influenced the award of the contract to Lithotec. EC officials defended Kigongo saying he has never been a member of the commission's alleged tender committee. Kuteesa told The New Vision in Kampala yesterday, that it was wrong for anyone to allege that he sat in a meeting where a decision to award the tender to Lithotec was taken. Ends