Monrovia — The acting chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Cllr. Teplah Reeves, says the NEC would take EKEMP International to court if it proceeds with its unauthorized pre-registration for the 2023 election voter roll.
"We're not dealing with those people," she said.
Her comment was in response to the NEC's stance on EKEMP releasing a portal where potential voters can self-pre-register though the Public Procurement Concession Commission (PPCC) denied the NEC's request to give the Chinese company no objection for the supply of the biometric equipment and materials for the voter roll.
EKEMP has been rejected twice by the PPCC but has been adamant in recusing itself from the process. It is believed that the chairperson of the Elections Commission, Davidetta Brown Lansanah, has been single-handedly selecting EKEMP out of the bid process for the US$12 million contract.
Six companies, including Network Solutions, EKEMP Int'l, Election Services Inc., HID Global and Liberian Partner Waymark Infotech and Local Liberian Partner and Laxton competed for the contract through revaluation processes. However, it was three companies that were qualified for the final vetting process.
The Joint Venture of EKEMP International Limited, INITS Limited and Palm Insurance Inc., and Joint Venture of Professional Services Inc. and HID Global were considered by the NEC to be most responsive of the pre-financing requirements which was a major requirement for evaluation."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Last week, FrontPageAfrica discovered that the controversial Chinese company, EKEMP has already developed a pre-registration app ahead of the elections in October of next year.
The app already developed by EKEMP/Palm Insurance with the inscription "This page for Liberia NEC voter pre-registration, once you open this page means you agree to collect and submit your basic information for voting and promise the authenticity of it.
All items with "is mandatory", the app details stated.
It carries the Voter ID, surname, given name, gender, sex, data of birth, as well as phone number, home address county, magistrates area and registration center as features indicated.
The development of the app comes after Cllr. Brown-Lansanah has traveled to Nigeria for nearly two weeks.
Early September this year, Ekemp/Palm Insurance listed, on its website, the National Elections Commission as one of its partners, though there was no official contract signed with the entity.
Following FrontPage Africa's publications on the matter, Ekemp/Palm clandestinely took down the logo of the NEC prior to the appearance of Counselor Brown Lasannah before the Plenary of the Liberian Senate.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica, Co-Chair, Madam Reeves said NEC would take EKEMP Int'l to court if they continue to impersonate holding to the fact that Company has been rejected by the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC).
