Dubai-based Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing’s $4.6m contract price for printing Malawi’s 21 May election ballot papers was the highest of 13 contenders. They included a South African printer with past Malawian experience that offered to do the job for US$2-million less.
Ren-Form’s sales manager, Jean-Pierre du Sart, said his firm has printed materials for close to 80 elections in 22 African countries. It had also successfully produced ballot papers for the last Malawian tripartite poll, in 2014. The commission’s chief elections officer, Sam Alfandika, strongly denied any impropriety and insisted that bid prices were not the main deciding factor in awarding tenders.
He did not respond to the complaint that the commission failed to inform bidders or explain to them whey they were unsuccessful. Thirteen companies vied for the printing contract, with Ren-Form bidding $1.7-million and Al Ghurair coming in at $3.6-million . The parties alleged that representatives of the Dubai-based company had met President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, whilenewspaper reported that during his visit to Dubai in February 2016, Kenyatta was introduced to the Al Ghurair family, owners of the Al Ghurair Group., Al Ghurair said it had no links with any Kenyan political party.
The Supreme Court of Uganda upheld the election outcome, although the nine judges said they had found evidence of electoral malpractice, including the late delivery of polling materials. The commission told all political parties and candidates in Malawi that if they wished to monitor printing in Dubai, they would have to do so at their own expense and get accreditation from the chief elections officer for access to the printing premises.
Asked whether the PPDA recommended Ren-Form for the job, as alleged by one industry source, Thipa said PPDA does not recommend suppliers. “Procurement decisions are made by entities carrying out the procurement, in this case the electoral commission.”