Parties: ECN must forget about ‘hand picking’ voting printer

Rudolf Gaiseb

Political parties have reiterated their position that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) cannot select a ballot paper printing company if there is no fair and transparent bidding process.

This development has raised concerns about transparency and fairness in selecting a printer for the ballots, which parties say could potentially lead to election manipulation. During an ECN meeting with members of the Liaison Committee (PLC) of the political parties last week, the committee provided an update on the ballot tender process for the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly elections. According to ECN, the ballot tenders were due on September 9 2024 announced through the International Open Bidding (IOB) process.

However, ECN is now accused of trying to stop that purchasing process and select a service provider of its choice.

The ECN reportedly fears that ballot papers will not be printed in time for the crucial November 27 elections.

However, in a statement dated October 2, 2024, the commission asserted that all election activities, including the procurement of necessary materials, remain on track and that the commission is committed to ensuring that the potential bidder meets all requirements as per the bidding specifications.

“The Committee is fully committed to promoting trust and cooperation among key stakeholders involved in the electoral process and ensuring that they remain informed in the run-up to the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly elections, hence this continued involvement,” the committee said. On Saturday, Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani said his party opposed a proposal by ECN to handpick a company to print ballots for the upcoming elections. “We take serious exception to such irresponsible behavior. ECN knew from the start that we would hold elections on November 27. “ECN, together with their masters, wants to choose a company that will print the election material. PDM says unequivocally no,” said Venaani.

He said his party is concerned that if ECN is allowed to choose the preferred bidder, the ballot boxes could fill up.

Landless People Movement spokesperson Lifazala Simataa said this in an interview with New era, the issue had already been raised in two meetings with ECN.

“ECN should have been diligent to ensure that an open tender would take place due to the tight schedule.

They said at their meeting that one of their staff members was “sleeping”, and due to time constraints they felt they should now go for direct purchasing, which we do not support, because that means they select who is the best. is going to be. They will select who they think suits them best based on their own criteria; one of the most delicate and important parts of the elections is the ballot paper,” said Simataa, adding that a lot could go wrong in that regard depending on who ECN chooses. “Because of the person chosen, we don’t necessarily think this is going to be the best choice, or necessarily the most transparent or most unbiased choice, because again, it’s someone selected by the ECN, who we do have questions about. bee. They were aware of the tight schedule, but they could not ensure that they would stick to this tight schedule,” Simataa added.

Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader Job Amupanda expressed his dissatisfaction with ECN’s efforts on social media.

“They want to secretly appoint a company without following a public tender. This means that a Swapo affiliated company will print ballots. The AR will not allow this type of corruption. There must be a transparent and open tender and not a secret appointment of a company affiliated with Swapo without following the tender procedures. When liberation movements begin to lose power, they tend to rely on ‘mafia styles’, as in Zimbabwe. We will not allow our democracy to be stolen by Swapo, ECN and the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF),” he wrote on Facebook.

Rally for Democracy and Progress leader Mike Kavekotora said the party’s position on the matter is unequivocal.

“Based on past experience and dealings with ECN, there is no way they can be entrusted with such a responsibility.

ECN does not have a clean track record to be given such responsibility. The date for the coming elections was announced and known to them, and they had ample time to prepare for this important event. What stopped them from doing this? What subsequent event would necessitate such a step? If there was, why were the stakeholders not informed?” he asked.

“ECN has done things in the past that have tarnished their name and reputation. It is now up to them to rebuild that trust by holding free, fair and credible elections and not putting forward questionable proposals. ECN must do things right and do the right things and not make nonsensical excuses,” he added. Evalistus Kaaronda, representative of the South West Africa National Union (Swanu), said: “Our position is that we prefer an open bid for transparency and participation of road users.” Martin Lukato of the National Democratic Party (NDP) also spoke out about this. “We absolutely disagree with ECN’s proposal. As usual, I have advised the ECN not to make any decisions without the approval of all registered political parties, stakeholders and the public. But unfortunately they didn’t believe my word. Printing ballot papers for a country’s elections is a very sensitive issue that requires good cooperation with all stakeholders to agree on the principles.”

According to Lukato, in order to organize elections, ECN needs an independent, neutral, transparent and responsible institution for printing ballots.

The ECN released the final voters’ register last Monday, marking an important step in the electoral process ahead of the general elections. ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua officially announced the final statistics for the electoral register, with a total of 1,449,569 registered voters, representing 90% of eligible voters. The final count showed a decrease of 0.13% compared to the provisional electoral register, which had provisional statistics of 1,451,444, which the ECN published on October 29, 2024.

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