MP seeks injunction against EC over procurement information
Janice
The Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey has filed an interlocutory injunction application in court seeking to compel the Electoral Commission to furnish him with some procurement information pending the final determination of his lawsuit against the commission.
Mr. Norgbey had sued the EC over its refusal to provide him with information relating to the procurement of a new biometric management system. Even before the substantive case could be heard, Mr. Norgbey filed an application for interlocutory injunction praying the High Court to
compel the EC to provide him with “a copy of the award letter from the Respondent to Thales DIS in respect of the contract for the acquisition of hardware components of the new voter management system” pending the “final determination of the instant action.”
He also wants the court to force the EC to provide him with “a copy of the procurement contract between the Respondent and Thales DIS for the acquisition of the hardware component of the new voter management system, a copy of the request for protocols, a copy of the Technical and Financial Evaluation Reports of the Evaluation Panels that
considered the tenders/proposals submitted to the Respondent, a copy of the Technical Evaluation Report of the first evaluation panel which was dissolved by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and copies of all correspondence between the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and the first evaluation panel or its chairman”.
The Electoral Commission is procuring a new biometric voter management system, discard its current system and compile a new voters’ register ahead of the 2020 general elections. It has also contracted a consultant to advice in that regard.
Mr. Norgbey is one of the people who have criticized the EC’s attempt to procure a new voter management system which the consultant recommended. The contract for the new system has been awarded to a firm called Thales DIS.
The Ashaiman legislator had written to the Electoral Commission to furnish him with the procurement details prior to contracting the services of Thales DIS, a request the commission turned down.
But Mr. Norgbey insists that the refusal of the EC to grant his request is “a violation, a continuing violation and a threatened violation” of his right to information.
EC refuses request
Mr. Norgbey had based his requests to the EC in accordance with the Right to Information Law. The EC, however, denied the request arguing that the fees and charges applicable for the said information was yet to be determined in accordance with the law.
The EC in rejecting the request said, “an applicant seeking to access information under this Act [Right to Information] shall pay the fee or charge approved by Parliament in accordance with the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009 (Act 793)”.
