KABUL (Pajhwok): The National Procurement Commission (NPC) on Wednesday approved the purchase of around 18,000 biometric devices worth $16 million for the upcoming presidential polls.
The procurement contract for buying 17,865 biometric sets was approved during a NPC meeting chaired by President Ashraf Ghani in his office on Tuesday evening, said a statement from the president’s office.
It said the biometric sets would include printers, power banks, paper prints and connection lines. The total cost of the sets was nearly $16 million. Some civil society activists were also present at the meeting, the statement added.
Meanwhile, Mualana Mohammad Abdullah, an Independent Election Commission (IEC) member, told the meeting that the biometric devices would be bought from a German firm. He said the firm had promised handing over the sets before June 27.
He said around 21,679 biometric sets had been left from the previous elections and their total number would teach 39,544 for the upcoming presidential election.
pk/ma