NASA and Jubilee have made startling allegations that taint the award of a tender to print ballot papers for the August 8 election. To NASA, owners of Al Ghurair, a Dubai-based printing firm controversially contracted by the IEBC, have close relations with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
NASA’s detailed elaboration seeks to prove that such a relationship will compromise the printing of ballot papers. NASA’s concern is that extra-copies will be added, clandestinely, to be marked in favour of President Uhuru. They have backed this narrative with the evidence of 2 million votes mysteriously cast only for the presidential candidate in the 2013 general election.
Uhuru Kenyatta incidentally happens to be the incumbent President, now seeking his second term. State House, the seat of power, has so far not denied there being a relationship. It has acknowledged ‘official’ contact only during the Al Ghurair owner’s visit to Kenya as a head of the delegation of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. But State House has oscillated and obfuscated over what exactly would be private or official in a meeting of businesspeople with a President.
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce didn’t come to Kenya to see animals at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage.They came to seek business, and meeting the President of country smoothens things for such delegates. This is the driving motive, and it explains why business delegations seek audience with the most powerful, especially here in Africa. In diplomatic etiquette, such delegations are momentarily granted “most favoured status”, in meeting the President. A picture with a President can do wonders in opening business opportunities. Indeed, no presidential delegation — ask the Americans or Chinese — to any country is complete without businessmen hanging in the wings. African presidents reciprocate in the most generous way, carrying with them only select business cronies and family.
So much of the possible Dubai conspiracy would’ve slithered into the recesses of Kenyans’ selective amnesia hadn’t panic gripped Jubilee honchos eager to be seen defending their boss. They even spoiled the plot for IEBC and its insistence that Al Ghurair was the best choice, and the tender was aboveboard. One Aden Duale, Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly, claimed NASA’s claims were sour grapes after Raila Odinga’s “favoured South African Paarl Media” lost the tender.
For all his efforts to defend the regime, Duale succeeded in confirming that the process of contracting Al Ghurair by the IEBC lacked integrity. He was saying, “Yes Al Ghurair got the tender because its promoters outbid and Raila’s ‘favoured Paarl Media’ at the IEBC auction. Meaning Duale didn’t contradict the contention that the award of the printing tender to Al Ghurair was not aboveboard, but instead attested the claim underhand deals underscored the contract. If the IEBC ever wanted an exit strategy to save face and clean its image, Duale’s “evidence” is a godsend to goad it into terminating the contract. The electoral commission has been struggling to close the confidence gap, and the ballot tender has opened a huge credibility hole. But will the commission take the opportunity and restore confidence in credible polls? I doubt it. It committed itself too soon, defending the award under camouflage of time constraints.
Still, with Duale’s evidence in, the IEBC would be hard put to defend a contract that all accept is stained. Proceeds from the Sh2.5 billion now Dubai-ChickenGate may already have been shared out. But the IEBC could still throw caution to the wind for the safety of the nation.
It isn’t in doubt that the August election could make or break the country. Unlike some well-meaning friends, I don’t think NASA holds the key to peaceful election or prevention of post-election violence. The hero or villain will be the IEBC. NASA is helping the country avoid a catastrophe by asking the Wafula Chebukati-led commission to do the right thing. The IEBC isn’t going to gain public confidence if we babysit its opaque and biased deals. Free, fair and credible elections aren’t about what happens on Election Day: It’s all about perception that the process is transparent.
But this ballot printing tender is a blot the IEBC could quickly do without. Time is what you make of it. IEBC didn’t have to entertain the luxury of trading off time for the convenience of tenderpreneurs. And IEBC pussyfooting to create conditions to award Al Ghurair the contract isn’t selling in the transparency market.
Kabatesi is a communications, publications and conflict management specialist, University of Nairobi