Deal fuels speculation President wants to control voter register

Joseph Stalin, who was Russian Prime Minister, Communist leader and political dictator from 1929 to 1953 when he died is often quoted to have said: “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”

Retired Justice of the Uganda Supreme Court, Prof. George Wilson Kanyeihamba, recently told The Independent something similar in an interview. Kanyeihamba said: “Elections are like football. If the referee is a partisan, the results of the match cannot be fair.”

Both Stalin and Kanyeihamba place a lot of emphasis on the Electoral Commission.

In the case of Uganda, the danger of the electoral process and results of the 2011 national elections being labeled unfair could be blamed on the control of one man; President Yoweri Museveni.

In the latest case, on March 19, the government of Uganda signed a contract with a German firm, Mühlbauer High Tech International involving three deals; the provision of mobile data enrollment systems for the capturing of personal data, the creation of a central population data base, and the establishment of a personalisation centre for the biometric identity documents. Under the deal worth Shs 200 billion, the German firm is supposed to supply all materials and systems.

Dr Stephen Kagoda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Alituma Nsambu, the minister of State for Information Communication Technology (ICT) represented the government while the Germany firm was represented by Gerhard Maurer at the signing.

Irregularities in tendering process

The deal is being challenged because it was not properly tendered. Instead, the government has made the National Security Information System a classified matter, effectively locking out parliament, user departments like the Uganda Electoral Commission, and experts from the PPDA.

“Awarding Mühlbauer High Tech would be repeating a mistake like the case of Face technology. The project should be cancelled and a new process adhered to. I have summoned the Speaker on the matter and Kivejinja and minister of Finance will be summoned to inform us where those shillings 200 billion will come from and if it’s a loan we need to know the payment terms,” says Ishaa Otto Amiza, who is MP for Oyam South.

He says the IGG also has a constitutional obligation to investigate the deal.

Otto says Mühlbauer High Tech came in fourth when the Electoral Commission was sourcing for companies that would undertake the voter registration project and it’s not clear how they suddenly were awarded the contract.

“President Museveni and the German ambassador should declare their interest in the deal,” he says.

Reports indicate that Mühlbauer was recommended to the President by the Germany Ambassador to Uganda, Reinhard Butchnolz.

Billions of money involved

The financial aspect of this contract is also raising eye-brows. Previously, the programme was budgeted to cost US 15 billion (Approx. Shs 30 billion) and the highest bidder wanted US $22.3 billion (Approx. Shs 45 million). The Mühlbauer High Tech contract is about five times that cost.

A statement on the Mühlbauer website says the project is worth 64 million Euros (Approx. Shs 200 billion).

Secondly, under previous arrangement, the winning bidder was required to fund the process in a build, operate, and transfer (BOT) arrangement. Sources within the procurement process are, therefore, surprised the government has selected a company that needs to be paid before it even starts on the job.

According to Otto, the Parliamentary Defence and Internal Affairs Committee had agreed that the process should follow the procedure recommended by PPDA which had advised against single sourcing.

The Independent has learnt from State House sources that the top PPDA officials on March 4 met with the President but failed to convince him to follow the due process. Eight days later, on March 12, Finance Minister Syda Bbumba wrote to Kivejinja indicating that if he completes the detail she is ready with the money required.

President writes

Earlier, on February 13, the President had written to Internal Affairs minister Kirunda Kivejinja directing him to move fast because the process was taking too long and time was running out.

However, critics claim the delays are calculated to stampede the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) into technically waiving procurement procedures. This time, however, because the National ID project is not time-bound, the government slotted in another defence for fraud – classified expenditure.

This means the manner in which the Shs 200 billion is spent cannot be verified by either the Parliamentary Accounts Committee, the IGG, or the Auditor General.

PPDA boss Edgar Agaba says he could not comment because he was going away on leave. PPDA Public Relations Officer Deborah Egunye said she cannot comment on the matter because it was a classified procurement.

Badru Kiggundu, who heads the Uganda Electoral commission (EC) which is one of the user departments of the Mühlbauer High Tech, says he is not the right person to answer.

“I know nothing about the procurement procedure. I am only looking at the benefits that will come along which include capturing, improved biometric data on the million voters.  The matter is being handled by Internal Affairs minister Kirunda Kivejinja,” he said in an interview with The Independent.

Mühlbauer is the manufacturer of the biometric equipment, says Kiggundu and that the new biometrics technology will capture people’s particulars, their finger prints and store them. Facial recognition will also be applied in the registration process. It was tried on 14, 000 voters in the country.

 “It will be very unlikely to vote twice even if you have a twin sister or twin brother,” says Kigundu.

This project involves setting up ICT centres in every district with servers, generators, and ICT technical people.

Mühlbauer High Tech International cannot achieve these targets if it’s mired in tendering controversy. In the end, it and its pushers in the government will be blamed if the 2011 elections are mishandled and the elections results are either disputed or rejected.

What may happen?

Management of the voter register is crucial to the outcome of the election. The Mühlbauer deal means whoever loses will claim its management was not transparent as the company in charge appears to have been handpicked by one of the players, President Yoweri Museveni.

Already, there are claims that without strictly controlling the voter register, Museveni cannot secure 51 per cent of the ballot in 2011.

Museveni got five million votes or 69% of the vote in 2001 but only four million or 58% of the vote in 2006. If he loses another one million votes in 2011, he will not garner an outright win.

When the voter roll was cleaned in 2005, the number of voters fell from 11.4 million in 2002 to only 8.4 million in 2005. The three million were considered “ghost voters” or phantom voters created in the EC data rooms to favour Museveni.

The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has filed a case against the Electoral Commission over alleged incompetence in the Constitutional Court. This latest case is likely to add fuel to the fire.

Sources close to State House say Museveni is well-intentioned and is pushing for Mühlbauer High Tech because he is frustrated by the extent of corruption and influence peddling around each tender at the EC and in the ministries.

The US$ 15 million (about Shs 30 billion) tender to update the national voters register by the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National ID projects have been mired in controversy.

Face Technologies, which was the first company to win the National ID deal in 2005, has dragged the government to the Commercial Court demanding $23m (Approx. Shs 46 billion) as compensation and damages for alleged breach of contract. It accuses the government of wrongfully terminating its contract.

Late last year, the PPDA ordered the procurement process of voter registration to be cancelled and retendered over corruption.

Influence peddling?

Ministers of Security Amama Mbabazi, Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa, and EC officials like Secretary Sam Rwakoojo are accused of fronting different companies.

In one case, a November 2009 report by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) titled: “Investigation Report on tender for supply, installation and commissioning of voter registration and biometric identification system for Electoral Commission of Uganda, Proc Ref No. EC/Servc/08-09/000267”, noted that alterations were identified at the technical evaluation level of the bids to favour Balton (UK) with Technobrain (TZ) Ltd.

The two companies are allegedly fronted by Mbabazi. He denies it.

Another firm that bid, Waymark (SA) & AH Consulting (UG) Ltd have been linked to a member of Mbabazi’s family while EC Secretary Rwakoojo is accused of favouring Ms Sagem, which scored the highest points at the technical valuation level in the cancelled process. The firm was allegedly fronted by one Christopher Kamukama whose wife, Molly, heads the EC’s Voter Education and Training Department.

Muhlbeur, apparently, got its contract from State House. But should anyone challenge it in court, the process would have to be halted until court pronounces itself.

Part of the wrangling can be attributed to the front men who give each camp assurance that the tender is in their bag.

Sources knowledgeable with the tendering process say, by the time a firm loses a tender bid, it would have invested too much money and time to give up without a fight.

In the Muhlbeur High Tech International, they will claim the process was sabotaged and appeal to the PPDA, if that fails they will appeal to the IGG to investigate the alleged corruption, if that fails they will go to court, then to parliament and finally State House.

Earlier on June 25, 2009, 15 companies had submitted bids for the EC job. They included Reutech Solutions, Smartmatic International, On-track Innovations, Sargem Securite, Elynx Solutions Ltd, Parknson & Clarkermiddle Rust, Adore Ltd, Maulbeur High Tech, Waymhrk Infotech, Balton/Techn Brarv, Global Information Tecnology, Tata Uganda Ltd, Gat International Ltd, and Belitle Uganda. Any of them can sue.

Before this lot, however, there was another bid process allegedly won by an Abu Dhabi-based company, Global Information Technology (GIT) although its bid was technically also flawed.

The EC Secretary, Sam Rwakojo, handles procurement. He refused to speak to The Independent.

The advantage that Mühlbauer High Tech International and its pushers in the government enjoy now may not be in the strategic interest of the project.

The project concerns national security and requires personal data from all citizens in the country. For a foreign company to gather the right details of all citizens, for a specified purpose, and in the specified period of time requires their cooperation.

If announcements on radio are followed, each national must submit biometric information to the EC to register to vote in the 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections. Registering will begin, a week from now, on April 15 and end on May 15. The EC needs to display voter rolls in public places for verification by May. That appears impossible at this time.

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