IEBC affirms confidence in Greek ballot printer citing cost effectiveness » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 1 – The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says it has confidence that the Greek firm which won a Sh2.8 billion shillings tender for ballot papers and the voter register for use in next year’s general election has the capacity to deliver.

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati and Acting Chief Executive Officer Marjan Hussein Marjan on Wednesday told a Senate departmental committee they settled on the Inform Lykos (Hellas) because it had presented the lowest evaluated responsive price at Sh921,326 for 3,000 ballots.

Marjan explained that Inform Lykos (Hellas) printed the ballot papers that were used in the Nigerian presidential election in 2019.

“If finally we secure them, the cost of the ballot paper will be between Sh22 and Sh23,that is with the tax, but before the tax the cost will be Sh18 per ballot paper. This is the competitive price when compared to the other printers who had submitted their bids,” the acting IEBC CEO stated.

On his part, Chebukati noted that the Commission had landed a big bargain from the 2017 pricing where the Commission paid Sh118 per ballot paper.

The IEBC, in the tender documents, said that considering the six elective positions in the general elections, the minimum quantity that shall be required was 117,600,000 ballot papers and a maximum of 180,000,000 ballot papers.

The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) cancelled the tender amid tender wars and claims of political interference from senior political figures in the country.

At least 14 firms participated in the tender, which has a huge bearing on the management of the upcoming elections.

Chebukati had earlier told the Senate Committee that they plan to finalize procurement of the election materials by December 31, but they have been delayed by numerous litigation arising from the process.

“However these tenders usually attract a lot of vendor interests which at times degenerate into vendor wars in terms of litigation, this may not only delay the process but also hamper preparation for elections,” he said.

The IEBC boss told the Senators that the commission had already commenced procurement of general election materials, equipment and services with major ones being the ballot papers, elections technology, ballot boxes security seals, logistics partners, media agencies among others despite delayed exchequer disbursement.