Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has cancelled the Open International Bidding (OIB) process for designing, printing, supplying and delivering ballot papers for next month’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Peter Shaama, the Chief Electoral and Referendum Officer of the ECN, announced on Monday that the commission met with authorised political representatives and came to the decision to cancel the tender.
This came after various political parties slammed ECN for initiating the process at the last minute.
The ECN wanted to print the ballot papers through an emergency procurement process due to limited time and to avoid going through the public bidding process.
Shaama said during a meeting on Monday that the commission communicated its decision to proceed with the bid cancellation, which is deemed necessary to be in the best interest of electoral democracy and the public interest to avert the risk of the late delivery of the ballot papers.
“The Commission thus issues this communiqué to inform all electoral stakeholders and the general public that the Open International Bidding (OIB) process initiated on the 10th day of September 2024 under Procurement Reference NCS/OIB/28-01/2024/25 for the Design, Printing, Supply and Delivery of Ballot Papers has been cancelled,” he said.
According to Shaama, the decision to cancel the procurement process was arrived at following consideration of various factors that may negatively affect the timely delivery of the ballot papers for the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The elections are set for 13 November for voting abroad, seagoing personnel and members of the security cluster and 27 November for the rest of the population voting inside the country.
He added that the commission, through its internal procurement structures, has considered alternative procurement methods in accordance with relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Act to ensure the timely delivery of ballot papers.
Shaama added that the commission will continue to consult with the authorised representatives of all registered political parties at all material stages relating to the election preparations in order to ensure transparency in the upcoming bid process.
“During the PLC meeting held on 7 October, the Commission extended an invitation to the authorised representatives of all registered political parties contesting in the upcoming elections to observe the production, printing, binding and packaging of ballot papers.
In the same vein, the commission decided to cover the costs of participation, regardless of the location of ballot paper production and printing.
“This is to ensure that political party representatives have oversight of the entire process associated with the production and delivery of ballot papers,” informed Shaama.
