According to weekly publication, The Standard, Chinese company the Laxton Group which won the tender to supply Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, actually came second in the bidding process. Dermalog Identification Systems of Germany was first with a score of 83,6%, but the State Procurement Board (SPB) gave the contract to the Laxton Group (82,85%), which came second.
Laxton’s local partner, Synlak Private Limited, did not manage to meet deadlines for the tender and was not evaluated but was still considered for the job. When reached for comment, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) Chairperson Rita Makarau said:
You are aware the tender was directed to SPB,
They are the ones who handled the tender so I will not be able to answer your questions. Can you direct them to SPB.
More: The Standard