South African firm delves into IEBC mess, ropes in Chebukati

A South African company whose penultimate offer to print the presidential ballots for the 2017 General Election was rebuffed by the electoral commission, has roped in the chairman in its offer bid.

Ren Form CC says it addressed its surprise July 14, 2017 bid to both Chairman Wafula Chebukati and Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba after a court process knocked off the original winner of the tender, Al Ghurair.

The IEBC chairman has no role in a tendering process and while the CEO has a role, it is towards the very end of the process after the tender committee has identified the winner.

The offer by the company was strange because it had refused to participate in the original tendering process, citing deficiency in specifications and tender price.

It was also strange because in its bid, the company said it had been “asked to respond to a request for the printing of the presidential ballot and declaration forms.”

“We were not contacted by the COO or by any other official of the IEBC. Our offer to be of service was initiated by ourselves and our agent,” Ren Form CC director Jean-Pierre du Sart told the Sunday Standard.

In the bid, now part of court documents, the company addresses its bid to Chiloba. But du Sart says he addressed it to both the CEO and the chairman on recommendation of a local agent whose identity he did not reveal.

He says the agent urged them to address their credentials and track road to the two gentlemen. The company claims to be “one of the world’s leading ballot form printing houses, with a record of over 50 successful election projects being completed in the last decade”. “We accordingly addressed an offer of service to the IEBC Chairman and COO with all required tender requirements as to the details of the Company, should they wish to source a new round of bids for the Tender in question,” du Sart says.

In the offer letter surprisingly picking on a deficient tender, the company confirmed that it would complete the printing of the papers by August 2 if the production were to start by July 21.

Alternative company

They also attached a detailed proposal of 21 items, including company registration documents, tax clearance certificates and customer reference list.

Three days after the offer, the commission plenary met and agreed to source for an alternative company to Al Ghurair. A day after the plenary meet, Chebukati wrote to Chiloba two near-identical memos, in quick succession, demanding compliance with the decision and an update on the same.

In the first memo, he makes reference to identification of “an alternative international company” and demands compliance by close of business of the same day. However, in the second memo, he limits the identification to “alternative company” and increases the time-frame for implementation by a day.

“I hereby instruct you to submit a report on the implementation of the plenary decision to my office by close of business July 19, 2017,” he wrote.

It is not clear if Chiloba complied. What is clear, however, is that on July 20, the Court of Appeal restored Al Ghurair’s tender and the offer went moot.

In its communication to the Sunday Standard, the company did not address why it revisited a tender they had declared deficient and overpriced. Instead, du Sart was much more pronounced on the deficiency of the tender terming it “grossly inflated” and deficient in its specifications.

He confirmed that the company had deliberately kept off the initial tender and that other printing houses of repute kept off it too, in essence subtly questioning the reputation of the winning company.

“This decision not to tender applied to other printing houses with a track record of success in election projects, and few, if any competitive bids were received by the IEBC for this tender,” du Sart says in a statement.