THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has cancelled a US$14 million tender awarded to Ren-Form CC of South Africa, a company linked to controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo, for the printing and delivery of ballot papers and other materials for the 2026 general elections.
Instead, the ECZ has awarded the contract to Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing of the United Arab Emirates.
The decision comes after Ren-Form CC failed to comply with the requirements outlined in the solicitation document, prompting the ECZ to seek an alternative supplier.
This comes after South Africa-based Zimbabwean activists wrote to Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema seeking his intervention to halt Ren-Form CC from supplying material for that country’s elections.
Ren-Form CC, together with the tenderpreneur Chivayo, allegedly corruptly obtained a US$40 million tender from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to supply electoral material for the 2023 plebiscite, inflating some invoices by up to 235%.
The activists raised fears that allowing Ren-Form CC to supply election material would destabilise the region as the company had worked with “extortionists and conmen” to supply electoral material in some countries.
Ren-Form CC was awarded a tender to print ballot papers for Namibia’s November election, which triggered outrage from the country’s opposition.
The Zambian Monitor publication reported that ECZ chief electoral officer Brown Kasaro announced on Monday that the new contract with Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing was signed on January 10, 2025.
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“On May 6, 2024, ECZ reissued the tender for printing and delivering of electoral materials, such as ballot papers, posters, blind voter templates, announcement forms, voter lists and registers,” Kasaro said.
Local electoral watchdogs said Zec could emulate ECZ to enhance transparency and accountability in managing elections to regain public trust.
“Zambia’s Electoral Commission (ECZ) has set a commendable precedent by cancelling the contract awarded to Wicknell Chivayo’s Ren-Form CC company, demonstrating the importance of transparency, accountability and citizen engagement in electoral processes,” Zimbabwe Election and Advocacy Trust executive director, Ignatius Sadziwa, said.
“Zec can draw valuable lessons from this development, particularly the need for rigorous vetting of contractors, embracing citizen participation and prioritising transparency to foster trust in the electoral system. By adopting these best practices, Zec can strengthen the integrity and credibility of its electoral processes, ultimately contributing to peaceful, free and fair elections that reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people.”
Political analyst Ruben Tendai Mbofana urged Zec to improve its transparency on who it awards tenders to in electoral processes.
“It’s very commendable that the Zambia Electoral Commission finally cancelled the contract that they'd entered with this Ren-Form CC, which is a discredited, disgraced company associated with a convicted criminal and controversial businessman Chivayo,” Mbofana said.
“Zec should take a leaf from this, that if they want the elections in Zimbabwe and for them as an electoral commission to have credibility, for them to be trusted by the people of Zimbabwe and by extension, the results that come out of our electoral processes to be respected, they need to clean their hands. They need to stop associating with discredited, disgraced companies such as Ren-Form and also people like Chivayo.”
