Gen Muntu warns of chaos if ballots are printed locally

Leader of Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu has warned that allowing local companies to print the 2021 election ballots will breed chaos in the country, saying they are highly vulnerable to manipulation, especially by the ruling National Resistance Movement party.    

The Public Procurement and Disposable of public Assets Authority (PPDA) has cancelled the initial ballot printing contract which had been awarded to seven foreign companies. The PPDA said the local printers were unfairly excluded from the contract and ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct fresh evaluation of the bids. The PPDA decision followed a petition by local printers who insisted they have the capacity to do the job. The EC had said the local printers did not win the contract due to lack of capacity.

The EC will now revaluate all the companies’ bids with a possibility of local printers winning the contract to print the 2021 ballots.

However, ANT presidential aspirant Maj Gen Muntu yesterday warned that allowing the ballots to be printed locally could throw the country into political anarchy. He asked the EC to be careful in choosing the winning bidders for the ballot printing and suggested the Commission’s decision will put lives of 42 million Ugandans at risk. 

“We hope EC know they are dealing with a very delicate situation. There are more lives involved in this. There are other options they have. They should stop pushing this country to the edge. How can anybody trust that a local company can print ballot papers here more so by a company which can be put under pressure by the regime? When you see the nature of internal elections by the National Resistance Movement (NRM), how can they even trust that you can have a company here in this country that can easily be intimidated by those people working in the government to print ballot papers?” Maj Gen Muntu wondered.

He added: “Many Ugandans keep using the excuse that they are pressured. All of us at one point would find ourselves in a position of being pressured but you walk out rather than move this country to a point of terror.”      

Maj Gen Muntu’s view was shared by the spokesperson of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party,  Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, who said any effort to hand the ballot printing to local companies will be a proxy to Mr Museveni to rig the elections.

Mr Ssemujju alleged that President Museveni after ordering the sacking of EC technical officials led by Mr Sam Rwakwoojo, the former EC secretary, for not awarding the German firm Veridos, which is linked to him, a contract to print ballot papers, has since ensured the company makes a joint venture with another local company through Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC).

“EC had been smarter because by the time Mr Museveni ordered the sacking of some officials, they had already entered some contractual obligation with the foreign companies. That is why you are seeing these local companies fighting but in actual sense, this fight is being done by Mr Museveni,” he said.

However, their NRM counterparts disagreed and said there is nothing wrong if local printers are granted the tender to print the ballots. The NRM deputy secretary general, Mr Richard Todwong, said the party supports the Buy Uganda Build Uganda policy adding that it would be prudent to have local companies participate in printing the ballots.

“These foreign companies are taking money for no good reason yet they do the same work. Some of them take the contract and do the work locally. It is better to get a local company that can print ballots. We have had cases of them misspelling the candidate’s name. They don’t know how to pronounce some of our local names,” Mr Todwong said.

He added: “Trust is an issue but it’s better than giving money away and to people who are going to do shoddy job. If you don’t trust local companies here or NRM, how sure are you that NRM might not follow that foreign company wherever they are going to print from? It is all the same. Trust is given. You can’t say I don’t trust what is inside Uganda but I trust what is outside Uganda. The world is more global than they think. What NRM can do here, it can do anywhere else anyway. What it can’t do here, it can’t do anywhere else.”

Political commentator Charles Rwomushana said he pulled out of the presidential race after finding out that the EC was organising a “silly election” that is being managed by President Museveni’s family.

“I am contesting the whole exercise because Mr Museveni’s family is going to be in charge of ballot printing. So, I reject the process in which one of the local companies is involved in ballot paper printing,” Mr Rwomushana said.  He did not present evidence to back up his claims.

The Uganda Printers and Packaging Association chairperson Archy Kiwanuka yesterday said they were waiting to hear from EC about the contract awarding process.

Mr Paul Bukenya, EC spokesperson said they had received the PPDA directive and their legal team was looking at it and would advise the Commission on the right action to take. He insisted the cancellation of the contract for ballot printing will not affect their polls roadmap.

EC’s view

Last week, the EC chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, told a press conference that their assessment indicated that no local company had capacity to print the 187 million ballot papers for the 2021 election.  “In our technical assessment, it was found out that the local companies don’t have the capacity to print ballot papers.  If you make that mistake, then you are heading for a crisis,” he said.