LPM questions ECN over ballot tender process

The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has demanded to know why the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) made use of emergency procurement rather than public bidding in the provision of ballot papers for the country’s upcoming elections.

LPM representative Ivan Skrywer says the party’s lawyer, Patrick Kauta, made the inquiry in a letter after the ECN announced that the South African family-owned printing company, Ren-Form, was selected for the design, printing, packaging and distribution of ballot papers.

“We want to know why they had to procure on an emergency basis when they had all the time to carry out a public bidding. We have also asked for the minutes where these discussions were had,” he said on Friday.

Skrywer also wrote a letter to ECN chief referenda officer Peter Shaama on Thursday to express misgivings about the choice of emergency procurement, and to confirm that the LPM will join a visit to Ren-Form.

“I confirm that LPM will participate in the process to visit the selected company based in South Africa on the specified dates. However, you recall that we have indicated our objections to this direct procurement process,” he says in the letter.

“In this regard, we reserve all our rights and maintain our objections, as was articulated in our statements to the last Political Liaison Committee and before. Our participation in this process should not be deemed as an acceptance of the direct procurement process,” Skrywer says.

Ren-Form has been tied to controversial businessman Wicknel Chivayo, who has powerful connections to the Zanu-PF and Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

A Daily Maverick report notes that Chivayo, who acted as an agent for Ren-Form for the procurement of the Zimbabwean election ballot, has been investigated for inflating some invoices by up to 235%.

“In one instance, Ren-Form invoiced the ZEC R23 million for a server that normally costs just R90 000,” notes Daily Maverick in a July 2024 report.

Asked if the ECN had conducted thorough background checks on Ren-Form, ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka asked to see the reports from the Daily Maverick and the Hawks.
“Show me the reports,” says Siluka.