Billionaire behind IEBC ballot papers speaks on secret meeting with Uhuru
The billionaire has finally broken the silence
___6847559___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___6847559___2017___6___16___7___Al+Ghurair
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When the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced that Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing will be supplying the papers, there was an uproar from Opposition leaders who claimed that the owners of the firm had close ties with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Alleged secret meetings the Head of State had with the chief executive officer of Al Ghurair Printing came to light, with NASA leaders led by Raila Odinga claiming that Jubilee was planning to rig the election by contracting the firm.
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However, Al Ghurair has since dismissed claims that President Kenyatta had a secret meeting with the members of the wealthy family in order to speak about the ballot papers deal.
In a statement, Mr Lakshamanan Ganapathy the General Manager of the said firm stated that any meeting that could have been there was held to build bilateral relationships between Kenya and Dubai.
“If (he) led a delegation to Kenya and met the President, it would be purely an intergovernmental bilateral relationship building exercise in his position of chairman of Dubai chamber of commerce and it has no connection with the ballot paper project.”
Mr Ganapathy noted that Majid Saif Al Ghurair – the CEO of Al-Ghurair Group of Companies - had no connection or association with Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing.
He noted that there were two different companies in Dubai which bore the same family name – Al Ghurair.
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“Please note that there are two distinct business conglomerates in Dubai which share the same family name. The other business conglomerate is Saif Al Ghurair group which has no connection or shareholding in Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing,” Mr Ganapathy said.
The company dismissed claims that its members were linked to the President’s family.
"(We) have gained a reputation as one of the most reliable ballot paper printers by delivering all the ballot papers projects on time without any mistakes with very high quality," the General Manager noted.
Al Ghurair added that claims it had contact with Kenyatta’s younger brother, Muhoho were also false
Th Dubai-based company is one of the biggest printing operations in Asia and Europe.
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