• Firm flouted Companies Act by entering multi-billion deals without being registered.
• Company argued National Assembly decision was unfair because theywere not given a chance to defend themselves.
Image: FILE
The High Court has declined to suspend a 10-year ban imposed by the National Assembly on French tech firm Idemia Securities (formerly OT Morpho).
In a brief ruling, Justice John Mativo on Monday said the Constitution gave different public institutions independence, hence the court must balance the right of Idemia in light of that independence.
“I find and hold circumstances of this case do not warrant a stay,” he said.
On April 25, the National Assembly voted to block Idemia Securities from doing business in the country for at least 10 years.
The MPs accused the company of flouting the law by entering into a multi-billion shillings contract with the IEBC yet it did not have a physical address in Kenya.
Idemia subsequently challenge the implementation of the legislators' report.
Idemia argued that the National Assembly's decision was unfair and unlawful because the company was not given a chance to defend itself.
“My client was never notified of this contemplated action against it neither was it accorded an opportunity to defend itself before the aforesaid adverse and unlawful findings and recommendations were made against it," the company's lawyer Wilfred Lusi said.
In their report, the legislators recommended that the DCI and the Director of Public Prosecutions undertake a probe.
They also proposed that appropriate criminal action is instituted on Idemia for doing business with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission before being registered as a foreign company as required by the Companies Act 2015.
Parliament further recommended that Idemia be blacklisted and barred from transacting business with any government agency for at least 10 years if found culpable of flouting provisions of the Act.
In the run-up to the August 2017 General Election and the October 2017 repeat presidential polls, IEBC awarded OT Morpho tenders worth over Sh6 billion to provide election technology.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)