The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has challenged the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) over a purported lack of transparency around the ballot printing tender.
The IPPR said if the amount the commission spent on the tender is juxtaposed to what it had budgeted in its annual procurement plan, it becomes evident that it spent over 100% more than what was initially budgeted.
They added that in its procurement plan, the ECN estimated that N$2.9 million would be required for the printing of ballot papers and election materials.
However, the commission awarded a N$6.3 million contract of the same tender to Ren-Form, a South African firm.
"The ECN needs to provide clarity on the cost of the contract - specifically, the cost escalation from what had been estimated to what will be paid," the IPPR urged. In a statement issued on 18 October 2024, the ECN denied allegations of corruption regarding the awarding of the tender to Ren-Form,
stating that the total cost of the contract is N$6 259 686. "This is more than double the amount that the ECN had estimated six months earlier that it would cost to print the ballot papers," the IPPR's Frederico Links said when the IPPR launched this month's procurement tracker yesterday.
"The difference between these two figures is N$3 355 686, which, itself, is almost
N$500 000 more than the ECN's initial estimated cost of the ballot printing contract. The actual contract value is 116% more than what had been estimated.
Once again, the difference between the estimated cost and actual cost of printing ballot papers points to questionable planning and costing of activities. Contractor integrity, adherence to timelines, and the cost of a contract also have a bearing on the conduct of a contractor," Links underscored.
When questioned about the reason for the award, the ECN indicated that the company met the requirements, without stating why a local company could not be awarded the tender.
"The ECN's decision to go with Ren-Form has unnecessarily and irrevocably cast a pall over the integrity of the upcoming elections and, by all indications, has further undermined trust in the ECN, which already appears to suffer from generally low and declining public trust, according to Afrobarometer," he continued.
"To date, the ECN has not provided a clear explanation for why it directly procured the services of Ren-Form for the ballot printing job, and to what extent it took into account the very serious allegations that have been publicly levelled against the firm.
All the ECN has done is announce that it engaged in 'a comprehensive evaluation process' before contracting Ren-Form in terms of Section 33(3)(b) of the Public Procurement Act of 2015. What the 'comprehensive evaluation process' encompassed remains unclear.
"However, while the ECN has not been wholly transparent publicly about its contracting of Ren-Form, the law stipulates in Section 33(4) that when engaging in emergency procurement, a public entity must submit a report to the Policy Unit in the prescribed manner and form, stating the reasons for or the situation which necessitated the emergency procurement," he stated.
On Sunday, ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka provided an update on the ballot printing process for the Presidential and National Assembly (PNA) elections.
"The production process for the ballot papers for the November 2024 PNA has been successfully completed. This includes verification, binding, packaging and sign-off by the authorised representatives of the presidential candidates and members of the National Assembly. Details regarding the arrival of the delegation and the delivery of the ballot papers will be communicated tomorrow [Monday]," Siluka had said.
Media Ombudsman John Nakuta blamed the media and civil society for not holding the ECN accountable for not proactively giving necessary information to the public.
He said the media has become reactive.
Nakuta thus encouraged journalists to critically probe issues pertaining to the interest of the public, and produce in-depth and insightful articles to properly inform the masses, instead of producing surface stories.
"I call on the media to really begin to do the kind of work that the Namibian public requires of them. Do deep-diving stories; go into and explain to the nation the importance of the information commissioner's office so people can begin to put the politicians under pressure to do what the law requires them to do," he said.
He acknowledged the ECN's efforts to communicate with the public as required, but pinpointed that "the ECN is disclosing information, yes, but their problem is that they just do the minimum. They need to do it proactively".
Information commissioner
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) greenlighted the budget allocation of N$20 million towards the establishment of the Office of the Information Commissioner last year. This office is said to be the government's commitment to transparency, accountability, good governance and access to information.
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"We know that Parliament is going into recess in about two to three weeks, so one can, with all certainty, say that this office will not be established come December, and yet we know that the budget has made provision for the establishment of the office," Links said. If this office was established, it would address issues such as this, because people will officially have the right to request the ECN to provide answers to questions such as those developed by the IPPR, he added.
If they fail at the ECN level, they would have gone to the information commissioner's office, and appealed for the ECN to be directed to provide this kind of information.
Upon enquiry by New Era, ICT minister Emma Theofelus stated that "after the tabling and subsequent approval of the regulations related to the appointment of the information commissioner, the MICT submitted a draft to the Ministry of Justice for gazetting. We await feedback from the Ministry of Justice at any time".
She added that the draft gazette was handed to the justice ministry before the parliamentary recess.
No timeframe has been stated as to when the draft will be gazetted, and the commissioner's office established.
"There's no timeframe. It can be tomorrow, it can be next year, or it can be 20 years from now - no timeframe," the minister stated.
