Row Erupts Over Ballot Paper Deal

A dispute has emerged over the contract for supply of 10 million ballot papers to be used in the coming presidential elections, reports Yunusu Abbey. Skipco Property Limited, a South African company, has challenged the Central Tender Board's decision to award the deal to Lithotec, also from Johannesburg. CTB reportedly argued that Skipco had underweighed its package. Instead of the 90gms, the minimum package required, it submitted 81.5gms. Lithotec, said to have met the 90gms required, is expected to deliver the consignment not later than February 15. But Skipco, which had offered to supply the ballot papers for the presidential, parliamentary and women elections at US$663,000, claims it was unfairly treated though its price was lower than Lithotec who quoted US $761,200 for all the three elections. "The dispute has prompted the authorities to reverse the contract terms. Lithotec will now only supply ballot papers for the presidential elections at a cost of about US$248,000," a source said. The rest would be re-tendered. "We were also surprised when we got a CTB letter awarding the tender to Lithotec. We felt there was a lot of unfairness in the deal," said a top Electoral Commission official. "While Lithotec were allowed to go and clarify on its bid document, Skipco was not given such an opportunity. Even the US$98,000 difference in the price offer between Skipco and Lithotec is a lot of money by Ugandan standards which the government would have saved," the source said. He said Skipco scored highest in all the categories and quoted the best price. "Our officials who handle such tenders should not exhibit double standards. Is it because Lithotec has the backing of some political heavy weights that is why they were accorded preferential treatment," the official asked. A Swiss Procurement Company (SWIPCO) official insisted Skipco lost the deal on technical grounds. He said SWIPCO, which evaluated the bids, used the test-results from the Bureau of Standards. Last week, ethics minister Miria Matembe convened an urgent meeting and discussed the issue. Skipco has now petitioned the IGG and SWIPCO, complaining about the contract award to Lithotec. "We have indicated in our bid document that the grammage of the final ballot paper will be 90gms. The Uganda Bureau of Standards has deemed our sample paper to be only 81.5gms. There is an inconsistency between what will be supplied, and the sample provided," the letter said in part. Ends