Ganapathy explains the printing process in the plant to the Zambian
team which is in Dubai to observe the printing of ballot papers for
the August 11, 2016 general elections.
A team comprising Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) officials, political party representatives, Zambian security wings and other stakeholders has arrived in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (U.AE.) and started proof reading details on the ballot papers for the August 11, 2016 general election and the referendum.
And Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Company, which has been contracted by ECZ to print ballot papers for the presidential, national assembly, mayoral, council chairpersonship, councillors and referendum elections, has declared that it is ready to start the printing process.
ECZ Commissioners Christopher Mushabati and Emily Sikazwe urged the team from Zambia to work diligently to the satisfaction of the Zambian people whom they are representing in Dubai.
Justice Mushabati urged the team members to devote their time to the important duty in Dubai so that all is done in a satisfactory manner.
He said the team was sent to Dubai to observe the printing of ballot papers on behalf of all Zambians.
Justice Mushabati advised the team to be ready to work long and awkward hours during the printing period.
He has since warned of punitive action again any member of the team who will default more than three times during the period in Dubai.
“If you default for more than three times, we will have to send you back to Zambia and you will have to account for the imprest,” he said.
And Dr. Sikazwe has implored the team to work as a united force towards achieving one goal for the Zambian people.
“We are team Zambia and so we are expected to work as representatives of the people of Zambia,” she said.
Meanwhile, Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Company General Manager Lakshmanan Ganapathy said his company was ready to start the printing process as soon as the proof reading of the details on ballot papers is completed.
Mr. Lakshmanan said the company has dedicated the whole month of July to the printing of ballot papers for the forthcoming Zambian elections.
He explained that templates for all ballot papers were ready for proof reading by relevant authorities adding that printing can take two weeks and another week for packaging the ballot papers.
And Mr. Lakshmanan said Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing, which was established in 1978, has a track record of printing ballot papers for elections in many countries in the Africa, the Middle East and other regions
Some of the countries that had their ballot papers printed by Al Ghurair are Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Uganda, Haiti, Madagascar, and Guinea Conakry.
He however explained that company did not print presidential ballot papers for the recent elections in Uganda saying it only printed for district chairpersonship, mayoral and local government elections. Other ballot papers for the recent Ugandan elections were printed in the United Kingdom, South Africa and in Uganda itself.
Mr. Lakshmanan said none of the 12 countries whose ballot papers have been printed by Al Ghurair in the past ten years has ever raised dissatisfaction over the professionalism of the company and the quality of the papers.
He said the quality of the paper used to print ballot papers the company has printed in the last 26 ballot paper printing projects cannot lose any markings on it if the normal ink is used on it.
This therefore dispels the fears which some sections of Zambians had insinuating that the quality of some ballot papers was that which can fade a few hours after being marked with normal ink.
The 2016 general elections are contested by nine political parties namely Patriotic Front (PF), United Party for National Development (UPND), Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), United National Independence Party (UNIP), Green party, Democratic Assembly (DA) and the Rainbow party.
Others are United Progressive People’s (UPP) party and the People’s Alliance for Change (PAC).
The presidential candidates are Edgar Lungu of PF, Hakainde Hichilema of UPND, Tilyenji Kaunda of UNIP, Winter Kabimba of the Rainbow party, Green party’s Peter Sinkamba and Edith Nawakwi of FDD.
Other of Saviour Chishimba of UPP, Andyford Banda of PAC and Maxwell Mwamba of the DA.
Ganapathy explains the printing process in the plant to the Zambian
team which is in Dubai to observe the printing of ballot papers for
the August 11, 2016 general elections.
in the August 2016 elections.
I hope Upnd sent a batallion to witness rigging
I like the presidential Ballot paper.
UPND & Rainbow party are eye-catching.
It will be hard to find Edgar and his ka capsized canoe.
On 11~8, come rain & come sunshine, its time & day to DUNUNA PF & DUNUNA LUNGU.
I repeat to all well meaning Zambians on 11~8 wake up early, eat & go out for a best Dununa PF & Dununa Lungu out by amass of ballots.
The economy is a mess & violence is now a fleas blanket under visionless PF bandits. So on 11~8, that is in 35 days it’s Dununa PF to Dununa Lungu. To Dununa Lungu, you Dununa PF or. Dununa PF & Lungu.
The Skeleton Key
~206~
Dununa PF to Dununa Lungu on 11~8 its Dununa Lungu!
AUGUST IS A DEFINING MOMENT FOR ZAMBIA. WE SHALL EFFECT A NEW CHANGE IN OUR COUNTRY WHICH WILL EMPOWER EVERY ZAMBIAN INTO PROSPERITY. WE ARE READY TO VOTE FOR HH AND THE UPND TEAM FOR A BETTER ZAMBIA. ZAMBIA FORWARD WITH THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE. VIVA HH VIVA! VIVA ZAMBIA VIVA!
i look at the first picture and what comes to mind is “poor africans, when are always getting ripped off”. Look at them, looking lost. i feel sorry for my peoples. fyonse efyo ka mwene kalelanda kusuminafye. Iyee ine uluse and the worst thing is that we havent even realised there is a problem with the current world system setup. we think its normal.
August 11 Israel says vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
LT bring back that VOTING thing so we vote this Katondo-Mwamba out of here.
Your drunk-saddist Lungu will be offered a jo as ambassador to your Israel.
Didn’t Lungu pick up the already printed ballots in Uganda yesterday?
The opposition needs to be on the lookout in the air, ground & water b’coz a huge rat is smelling from the Ugandan gallivanting!
The pre marked PF ballots in the offing through Uganda should be unchained on 11~8 amass to Dununa Lungu & Dununa PF.
The Skeleton Key
~206~
35 days for Dununa PF to Dununa Lungu.
Vote Wisely Forward & Dununa PF out!
The suscipion is that this Dubai Printer will print extra and premarked ballot papers for the Presidential ballots. The Presidential ballots should be checked to ensure they are not premarked for Lungu and we hope there is technology to detect a premarked ballot. There must be an audit of all ballot papers and especially Presidential Ballots. We know that the only way Lungu can win this election is thru rigging. People of Zambia have decided they do not want a thief,a corrupt,violent and visionless Lungu as President. Zambians want HH to be given a chance to govern Zambia and fix the economy. Forward with Team HH,GBM and UPND.
I was a supporter of HH until he chose GBM for running mate.
Now that Presidential ballot rigging has been exposed we want to see if Al Ghurair Printing company will do a professional job. Its image and reputation are already tainted and now has to salvage it for future business interests. No extra and premarked ballot papers please. All eyes are on Al Ghurair and ECZ. All ballot papers will be printed by this company so this company will be held accountable for any ballot printing rigging. Walls have eyes and ears. We will see what other dirty tricks Lungu will come up specific to Presidential Ballot manipulation.
Who is that one in a wheelchaiir? Anyway, why should yhey default threemtimes when on national of such importance? Once is enough to geta warning, twice uou are chucked out…..!!
NO shame at all wasting $3million to print a mere ballot paper…if you invested a quarter of that money in Govt Printers imagine what it would do to that sector. What a generation of corrupt wasteful leaders we have had.
Striking and funny about the article is the warning to send back all those who go there to eat, drink, shop and be merry. A very hard task if one is traveling overseas for the first time! But I am sure our reps will try their best to remain FOCUSED:-)
Zambians become savers when they are abroad especially when they are on a short stay…who would to waste dollars on expensive alcohol.
Mr zulu suspicion is like imagination No one can be restricted. You can imaging suspect anything you are free
All these guys representing various political look malnourished and they will be rich after Dubai outing. They do not look like they can resist tuma US65,000 each as funga kinwa token. And already they all look begging for something.
Thanks PF, the last 5 years have been insightful. Well tried, well done on the infrastructure.We now need a party that will come to feed us. It is very difficult to move on the new roads with the stomach complaining of inflation.
NI DUNUNA FORWARD CHABE NO REVERSE.
The Dubai Printer,ECZ and Reps for all Political Parties must agree on the number of Ballots printed and sign for them after a thorough audit. Al Ghurair printed ballots must have distinguishable security features so that we can differentiate ballots printed by Al Ghurair to the ones secretly being printed in Uganda on Lungu’s orders. We must make it difficult for Lungu and ECZ to steal our votes infavuor of Lungu. Viva HH,GBM & UPND.
See the list of countries this alguhair prints ballot papers for:Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Uganda, Haiti, Madagascar, and Guinea Conakry. Its all war torn countries other than Madagascar which also has a corrupt leader at the moment. How the hell on earth would Zambia put itself on the same list with Iraq,Afganistan,Uganda,Haiti,Zimbabwe?just how possible is this?how?It should ve been a company that prints ballot papers for Botswana,Tanzania,Namibia,Malawi etc…not this crappy list of War countries.Its just shows us how doggy agulhir is.And besides,Lungu brought in ballot papers yesterday from Uganda already.
Putting Rainbow and UPND next to each other is a ploy to confuse the electorate.The colours are very similar and this was done deliberately.They want people to mix up votes for Winter Kabimba and HH.They must ensure that the candidates are REPOSITIONED on the ballot.PEOPLE NEED TO BE VIGILANT AND SPOT ALL FORMS OF FOUL PLAY…WE MUST NOT LEAVE ANYTHING TO CHANCE
Even FIFA rules require the Goal Keepers to wear distinct colours :
“Colours:each goalkeeper must wears a jersey with colours that distinguish him from the other players, the referee and the Assistant referees””
GUYS WAKE UP…