The Court of Appeal on Wednesday issued its first directive on the presidential ballot papers printing tender appeal case.
The appellate court directed that the hearing of the case filed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries (IEBC) begins on Friday, July 14th.
The Court also noted that the appeal would be heard by a five-judge bench.
In their appeal, IEBC wants the court to quash the High Court's ruling to cancel the ballot paper printing tender awarded to Dubai-based Al Ghurair.
According to the polls body, there is no time to float the tender a fresh as there are only 28 days remaining before the General Election.
“The learned judges erred in fact when they found that there is still time available to the appellant to procure election material without any factual basis and disregarding the professional assessment of the appellant,” IEBC's appeal reads in part.
Last Friday, a three-judge bench of Justice Joel Ngugi, George Odunga and John Mativo in their ruling ordered that IEBC should start a new procurement process for the Presidential ballot papers.
“We order that the IEBC commences the procurement process for printing of election materials for presidential elections scheduled for August 8 so as to ensure free, fair and transparent elections,” Justice Ngugi directed.
In their ruling, the judges faulted IEBC for failing to consult all stakeholders in the August poll before awarding the Sh2.5 Billion tender to Al Ghurair.
The High Court also noted that the Commission ignored several procurement processes including public participation as required by law.
The bench, however, found NASA’s argument that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s relationship with Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Company influenced the award of the tender to the firm as lacking the evidentiary standard to prove the bias claims.
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