EC Chair, Charlotte Osei
Pro-opposition pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance, has asked the Electoral Commission to cancel its contract with publishing firm, Aerovote for the printing of Pink Sheets for the December 7th polls. The call comes just a day after the Chairperson of the EC, Charlotte Osei defended the credibility of the company in an interview with the BBC. But speaking to Citi News, the Convener of Let My Vote Count Alliance, David Asante, said allowing Aerovote to print materials for the election will leave the process questionable.
“Our checks reveal the same organization, Aerovote, was liquidated and was rendered insolvent in Britain in the year 2013, and they just rushed into this country in 2016 and set up less than 11 months with a seed capital of GHc500, of which they registered the organization and they were incorporated in Ghana.”
David Asante also insisted that, the Electoral Commission shouldn’t have awarded the contract to Aerovote in the first place. “It is a serious matter when an organization that has been declared bankrupt in Britain moves to Ghana and in 11 months the Electoral Commission of Ghana awards such a company a contract. The Electoral Commission is dealing with an organization that has no integrity and crisis on their hands; we cannot do business with such an organization,” he added.
EC defends Aerovote
Charlotte Osei in the BBC interview, however clarified that; the company “has always printed it [pink sheets] for us and has now relocated to Ghana which made their pricing better for us.” “This time, we did not have to bear the high freight charges that we would have had to bear and also the time for shipping,” she added.
EC must come clean
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), is also skeptical about the EC’s claims. The NPP’s Director of Elections, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, said they believe the EC has not been transparent enough in the award of contract. “The issue surrounding this matter is a bit sketchy; so we are waiting for further clarification, but what we do know is that, the companies that competed for this contract should have some proven capability, while offering some transparency. One quoted a far less amount of about 4.2 million as against 8 million by the other. The other who has no proven record and is gone bankrupt in the UK, physically, nobody knows their location in this country, and we are not too sure that they are going to even do it here or elsewhere, suddenly, somehow wins it,” he added.
-Citifmonline