Friday, March 29, 2024

Dubai firm wins ECZ ballot printing tender

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Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Company
Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Company

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has awarded the tender to print ballot papers for the August general elections to Alghuraair Printing and Publishing Plc of the United Arab Emirates.

In a notice placed on the reception board at Elections House, the tender for the printing and delivery of election materials for the 2016 polls has been issued to Alghuraair Printing and Publishing Plc based in Dubai.

It said according to the tender rules, a 10-day period has been given in which objectives to the proposed award can be raised.

If that does not happen, the Commission will then go ahead and announce officially

Founded in 1978, Al Ghurair Printing & Publishing LLC (AGPP) is the printing and publishing arm of the UAE’s leading business Conglomerate ‘Al Ghurair Group’.

According to its website, the firm is FSC/PEFC and ISO 9001:2008 certified company with 10 multi-colour sheet fed offset presses, 5 Web offset presses, 5 highly automated binding lines and all other print-finishing machines under one-roof.

It has the largest printing and automated binding capacity in UAE and has branch offices in Abu Dhabi, Nairobi, Afghanistan, and representative offices at Mozambique, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

It was involved in the printing of February 2016 Uganda elections ballot papers.

30 COMMENTS

  1. Didn’t MMD purchase a state of the art printing equipment at Government printers with a sole purpose to print ballot papers? What happened?
    This just makes me sick, its vexing. Africans, we are a cursed lot. Pumping more money into an already oil rich economy while yours is struggling in all sectors. What is wrong with you people? What is so difficult about printing ballot papers locally?

    • These theives are a disgrace indeed. Since time of RB they have been telling us that state of the art printers have been purchased and Govt printers are ready for printing. These african crooked politicians. yark yack yack

    • I remember Sata, PF and minions making a farce about printing of ballot papers abroad in 2011. Five years later these loudmouths have not sorted out this mess, despite laying their hands on $8billion during that period. What a shameless bunch of thieves!

    • Was there backgound screening of the Printers. The media reported sometime in the past that the ballots were going to be printed locally what has changed. Why not UK, Australia, USA, Canada etc countries with progressive democracies and public accountability.

    • I will advise Opposition to resist this company, if we cannot print locally, let us go to SA where we have experience already.

    • They did and government printers applied too to be considered. However tenders are awarded by ECZ based on who meets their specifications and who can do a good job.
      So Government printers will simp ly need to market itself better

  2. This is how corrupt Changwa and his use-le-ss ministers steal Zambian money. Didn’t they say that all papers will be printed in Zambia?

    • What type of people are we every election its the same thing for the past 15 years…happy to construct overpriced useless roads but we can not invest $5m in Govt printers.

  3. Who will pay for air tickets to take all those opposition representatives to inspect the ballot printer premises and verification and samples?

  4. Some time last year ECZ told us ballot printing will now be done locally. What has changed? Should we read anything in the use of a company that was used by Uganda in their rigged election? If stakeholders reject this al ghuraair how much time is there to procure another printer?
    These elections have a potential of being the worst handled. But for what purpose?

  5. Why print ballot papers using a Dubai Company? If one knew how most foreign workers save those who work for foreign companies are paid by Dubai companies, the Election Commission would not give this company a tender. This in itself speaks volumes of implication. Just imagine how good Dubai looks compared to the salaries which range between $US 200-500, accommodation very expensive and you find 10-20 people living in one house/apartment. I cannot imagine how PF thinks. This is a party which said when it comes to power ballots will be printed at Lusaka Government Printers and that it will equip well one of the hospitals in Zambia so that they will be no need to send sick leaders to South Africa. Bluff!

    • Zambians entrusted their country to a bunch of liars and thieves in 2011. Now we are all suffering for it.

  6. Politicians in Zambia know how short the collective memory of their population is. Those who remember are abused and harassed to silence. This is why nobody even cares about contradicting themselves. There are reports asserting that ballots will be local and our elections will be locally driven. In civilized economies parliament should be called to debate this turn of events and someone brought to book. In Zambia? Dream on. It is the rule of the appointed…

  7. The opposition and zambian lot are sleeping…..does anyone wonder why the pf officials well known like the kaizer’s are always in Dubai including the first lady…..what business are they doing. Pf are putting in place their position no wonder Lungu mumbi kambwili chama are all confident that they are winning. Lungu looks humble and drinks Jameson but also being calculation with staying in state house permanently…..

  8. Up to now we are still printing abroad…10 years on..what a shame..what type of leaders who have absolutely no pride. All these years they have telling us they are buying state of art machines for govt printers but its mere talk.

  9. This is a priority area pf government shud have invested in for sure. They shud av bought printers with the money they wasted on signing the amended constitution. 4.5 Million woud have taken us a long way…crooks, liers and spineless thieves indeed…

  10. 3 things to as WHY ECZ has given the tender to this firm;

    1. The boss at Government Printers is a Tonga and top UPND insider…
    2. HH has been frequenting South Africa about 45+ trips since 2014. Reasons are several but key among them is that he has tipped off the top managers at the South African firm that has been printing ballot papers for Zambian elections in recent time.
    3. The elections results for an incumbent as statistics will show you, has been very positive when ballot papers were printed by this Dubai firm. So as a betting man/woman (sitting government) you would rather have the ballots printed by Alghuraair Printing and Publishing Plc.

    Wapya Munzii tate!

  11. It said according to the tender rules, a 10-day period has been given in which objectives to the proposed award can be raised. The above comments and crying from Zambians are sufficient to cancel this tender. How can a country with approximately 70% of citizens living below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) and 50% of these are extremely poor, can be exporting money like that to a country with 0% of its citizens living below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL). This is sad and how are they going to create jobs with this indisciplined parastals who are bent on exporting money every day instead of exporting goods and services? Award the contract to Govt Printers finish, whether they print rubbish or black and white, its us who will be voting on those but not expensive voters from developed countries…

    • Award the contract to Govt Printers finish, whether they print rubbish or black and white, its us Zambians who will be voting on those but not expensive voters from developed countries. Even well meaning opposition should support Govt Printers doing the job. We are ready to guard against rigging on 24 hours if that is the fear of opposition. We can’t keep on being kicked from Consolidated Contractors Company of Kuwait to Alghuraair Printing and Publishing Plc of the United Arab Emirates. Next it is cheap desks and solar lights and again we will be gain waiting for corruption court cases for US$ 90,000.00 in the year 2066 when we can visibly see these things happening now.

  12. Kelvin Fube Bwalya is always in Dubai South Africa. The elections have already been rigged. PF has won. He has been traveling there to make the arrangements. If I was the opposition I would look into it. Because you are losing. This election has been Rigged.

  13. The awarding of the contract to an outsider printer is very simple to explain. When the printing is done locally by the Government Printer there is no possibility of padding the cost; so no ‘nichekeleko’.

  14. Where are the PF cadres to support this latest ridiculous move. When we say the government is corrupt and clueless they argue. When things like this happen they keep quiet. Defend your government.

  15. And one other thing PF cadres in Five years you fail to install a printing press at government printers but managed to borrow 6 billion dollars. Now you want to give my hard earned tax kwachas to the UAE. What is wrong with you?

  16. We dont have ichi suma,If we went ahead with printing locally ati they are rigging.So better an independent company were we are guaranteed of a good job a not poor quality materials.No body said an election is cheap and our government is not using Tax payers money,this money has been sourced from donor countries like always.

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