TEXT: Sudan opposition lodge complaint against UNMIS elections official with UN’s Ban

March 15, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The leader of the Umma Reform and Renewal Party (URRP) Mubarak Al-Fadil sent a formal letter of protest to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon against the Ray Kennedy, Chief Electoral Affairs Officer for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).

A row has erupted over the process of awarding the bid for printing the executive posts ballots for the April elections which Al-Fadil says it opens the door for fraud since it was supposed to be printed abroad but a last minute decision assigned it to a local print house belonging to the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

The opposition leader said that this would lead to duplicate papers and ballot box stuffing. The opposition parties took up the issue of voting slips earlier this month with the National Elections Commission (NEC).

“When we wrote to the National Election Commission complaining, the Commission wrote back to us in a letter dated March 10, 2010 justifying their action and confirming that these actions had been approved by the Chief of the Electoral Assistance Division of UNMIS, Mr. Ray Kennedy (All tender vetting and evaluation had been undertaken in participation of the UNMIS Electoral Assistance Division and that the National Election Commission had not received any complaint regarding the award of tenders)” Al-Fadil said in his letter.

“Mr. Ray Kennedy has been quoted consistently in the local press commenting on political issues, criticizing opposition parties’ demands. These demands include conditions needed to hold a free and fair election. This action supported by your staff member has left the door open for the duplication of ballot tickets and thus manipulating and forging the electoral process. Mr. Kennedy has shown ignorance and incompetence in comprehending the legal and political set up in which the elections are being conducted”.

Al-Fadil in his letter said that ” UNMIS has failed to stop the National Election Commission or alert the monitors and political parties that the printing of the ballot tickets has been diverted from the legitimate winner of the tender to be printed in a printing house controlled by the ruling National Congress Party and its security apparatus at five times the cost of the original award. This has serious implications on the elections”.

The NEC said a bid for printing the voting slips was advertised and two Sudanese companies secured it and that due to time constraints one set of the cards was diverted from a Slovenian company to a Sudanese one stressing that at each step this process was made with the participation of UNMIS elections office.

Late last week UNMIS dismissed allegations leveled by Al-Fadil against it.

“UNMIS Spokesperson would like to reiterate that the role of the Mission and its Electoral Assistance Division is restricted to providing technical assistance and limited logistical support within its capabilities when requested to do so. This does not involve making substantive decisions about any aspect of the electoral process. Such decisions are left in their entirety to the NEC and other stakeholders in Sudan as an internal Sudanese matter”.

Below is the text of the letter

H.E. Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary General

C/O H.E. Haile Menkerios
SRSG United Nations Mission in Sudan

Sudan is at a critical juncture, elections are being conducted under a police state where all organs of the state are controlled by the ruling National Congress Party. This situation is in contravention to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim National Constitution founded under an agreement that was endorsed by the Security Council and guaranteed by the United States and European Union. Thus under these circumstances we have always welcomed the positive contribution of the international community and United Nations at large and specifically United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) who are providing 47% of the financing and technical assistance for the elections.

The opposition parties and Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) have been struggling hard with the National Election Commission (NEC) to ensure competence and impartiality in its conduct of the electoral process. Recently we discovered however that the ballot tickets of the executive posts have been printed locally at a government-owned printing house controlled by the ruling National Congress Party at an exorbitant cost of four million United States Dollars.

When we wrote to the National Election Commission complaining, the Commission wrote back to us in a letter dated March 10, 2010 justifying their action and confirming that these actions had been approved by the Chief of the Electoral Assistance Division of UNMIS, Mr. Ray Kennedy (All tender vetting and evaluation had been undertaken in participation of the UNMIS Electoral Assistance Division and that the National Election Commission had not received any complaint regarding the award of tenders) .

Mr. Ray Kennedy has been quoted consistently in the local press commenting on political issues, criticizing opposition parties’ demands. These demands include conditions needed to hold a free and fair election. This action supported by your staff member has left the door open for the duplication of ballot tickets and thus manipulating and forging the electoral process. Mr. Kennedy has shown ignorance and incompetence in comprehending the legal and political set up in which the elections are being conducted.

The Electoral Assistance Division of UNMIS has failed to stop the National Election Commission or alert the monitors and political parties that the printing of the ballot tickets has been diverted from the legitimate winner of the tender to be printed in a printing house controlled by the ruling National Congress Party and its security apparatus at five times the cost of the original award. This has serious implications on the elections.

We call for an immediate investigation and transparency in dispensing with international funds directed to the National Election Commission for training, voter and civic education and technical assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Mubarak Elmahdi
Chairman – Umma Party Sudan
Presidential Candidate

(ST)