Top officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have been faulted for apparently ignoring expert advice on the recent tender allocation to a Fench multi-national company, Safran Identity and Security.
IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba and Chairman Wafula Chebukati went ahead to award the tender to Safran despite IEBC's tender allocation committee having disqualified them, the Daily Nation reports
The report revealed that the evaluation committee outlined several irregularities concerning the company.
Safran produced an expired tax compliance certificate which raised questions over the legitimacy of the business it conducts. In addition, the company's documents did not have any signatures from external auditors which proved that the company had not been audited.
The evaluation committee also felt that the company did not meet the stipulations for experience, as it had been in operation for a shorter period of time than the IEBC required. Consequently, the committee recommended that the company be disqualified.
Despite the recommendations, Mr Chebukati announced that the board had chosen Safran to provide a system for voter identification and result transmission in the August elections. He emphasised that the decision was prompted by the need to meet deadlines in a timely manner.
"Safran was chosen because it has undertaken to deliver the technology within the statutory timelines," Chebukati explained.
In a letter to another French company – Gemalto SA – who had initially won the tender, Mr Chiloba stated a different reason for the sudden change in suppliers.
"Your financial bid was significantly above the budgetary provision. The commission also considered that there would be no value for money to retain the voter registration component in Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KIEMS) at present," Chiloba wrote.
