We Haven't Contracted Collapsed UK Firm - EC

The Electoral Commission has dismissed a media report suggesting that the contracts for printing some election materials were awarded to a dissolved printing firm in the United Kingdom.

According to the Commission, the contract for the printing of the election materials was awarded to a Ghanaian-based company, Aero Vote Limited, after it had met all the requirements.

The Statesman newspaper published that the EC had awarded an $8million contract to a dissolved printing firm in the UK.

But in an interview on BBC Africa on Thursday, Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei said the firm contracted has always printed election materials for the EC.

She explained the firm [Aero Vote Limited], has relocated to Ghana and so it was even to the advantage of the commission since they would not have to pay for freight charges and risk the security of the materials while being shipped into the country.

“We have awarded the contract for the printing of some of the election forms to a company that has always printed it previously for us and has now relocated to Ghana which makes their pricing better for us and which means that this time we don’t have to bear the high freight charges and also the time for shipping because it is high-level security,” she said.

According to her, the right procurement process was applied in the awarding of the contract and that Aero Vote satisfied all the requirements.

Mrs Osei noted that it would be unfair to deny a company that meets all the requirements in the procurement process just because it has folded up in one country and has set up in another country.

“If a company decides to relocate, wrap up its business in one country and move to another country, does that mean that they should be excluded from bidding for contracts in the country they’ve relocated to especially when they have the track record of printing for Ghana previously? Companies move from one country to the other for all kinds of reasons that would be unfairly penalising companies that have decided to relocate.”

Moreover, she added that the relocation of the company served the interest of Ghanaians as it has led to the creation of jobs.

“I’m happy that they’ve relocated to Ghana. At least they are hiring Ghanaians, they are creating jobs in Ghana.”