Parliament’s defence committee clears Fattani Printers over printing fake ballot

The Defence and Security committee of Parliament has cleared Fattani Offset Printers in Blantyre over allegations of printing fake ballot papers to allegedly help the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rig the fresh Presidential election due Tuesday June 23.

The six-member team, led by the committee chairperson Ken Zikhale Ng’oma of Malawi Congress Part (MCP), queried the company directors and management on the allegations before inspecting some offices and the factory.

The team did not find any suspicious material.

Ng’oma said the committee was greatful to the company directors for accommodating them on their fact finding mission, “although there were some elements of dishonesty from some of the employees when releasing information.”

He said:”There was a conspiracy in terms of saying the truth, they [employees] were warned not to say anything. It is very confusing, you could see there was no honesty.”

Fattani’s sales director Ahmed Razzak said the rumours have put most of their employees under a lot of pressure and stress hence their nervousness when responding to the committee.

Razzak also said although Fattani has not been involved in printing ballot papers, they have printed other MEC materials such as polling booths and polling kits for the fresh presidential election which they delivered ahead of schedule.

The Defence and Security Committiee has since assured Malawians that it is  alert to ensure that any rumours of attempted rigging are investigated to ensure a free and fair election.

Ng’oma said allegation that Fattani were printing fake ballot papers were unfounded.