Prime
Observers ask govt to stay away from ballot printing deal
The Electoral Commission has in recent days come under pressure over where the body intends to produce from materials to be used in the 2021 elections. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) on October 26 directed the EC to re-valuate the bids for both the local and foreign firms that sought to be given the tender to print 187 ballot papers for the 2021 General Election.
A section of local election observers have asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to resist any pressure to have the 2021 elections ballot papers printed in the country because it may compromise the polls.
The observers believe that the Independence of the EC is being put to test saying it can only win some degree of confidence from the electorates and candidates if the ballot papers are printed abroad.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) on October 26 directed the EC to re-valuate the bids for both the local and foreign firms that sought to be given the tender to print 187 ballot papers for the 2021 General Election.
The EC was in the process of signing ballot printing contracts with five foreign companies to print the ballot papers but PPDA upheld the petitions by Uganda Printers and Packaging Association (UPPA).
In the petition, local firms complained of unfairly being eliminated at the preliminary stages before their capacity to do the ballot printing job is evaluated.
Ms Sarah Bireete, the executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG) told journalists in Kampala yesterday that printing ballot papers abroad will serve as one of the parameters of free and fair elections.
“We also urge PPDA to leave EC to conduct free and fair elections in this country because they are protected by the Constitution under Article 62,” Ms Bireete.
EC reacts
The EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, last month said the directive to carry out re-evaluation of the bids would impact on the constitutional provision to hold the elections in the first 30 days of the last 122 days of the term. These fall between January 9 and February 10, 2021.
Justice Byabakama, however, told Daily Monitor that: “We are going to have ballot papers. Any lingering issues about who is going to print the ballot papers, we are sorting them out.”
This newspaper has learnt that the EC is yet to embark on the bids re-evaluation process and the management continues to hold crisis meetings.
The chairman UPPA, Mr Archy Kiwanuka, said: “We have not received any feedback from EC. If they do not follow the directives of PPDA, we have no option but to leave it at that because it will delay the whole election which we do not want.”
