Chebukati team teeters on timeline tightrope as in 2017

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati is under siege as the electoral agency finds itself on a rocky path of pitfalls similar to the one leading to the annulled 2017 presidential polls.

Already the commission’s crucial preparation plan has ground to a halt. Procurement catfights have sent aggrieved parties rushing to court. Legal action has slammed the brakes on key processes nine months to the polls.

The disruptions of the commission’s strict timelines may undermine preparation for the polls leading to a new government.

In 2017, IEBC ran into similar headwinds affecting crucial timelines after the opposition mounted a series of legal challenges. They resulted in cancellation of a contract to print ballot papers a month to the polls.

Political analyst Dismus Mokua said it is suspicious that the electoral body always waits until the last minute before starting the procurement processes.

The analyst asked why the IEBC should sit around for five years, only to start preparations barely a year to the polls.

"Why does the IEBC always approach the electoral procurement with a fire-fighting mentality, why can't the electoral agency handle procurements very early in the day? Why do they always act at the last minute?" Mokua asked.

He added, "There is incentive to do last-minute procurement. When the process is rushed, they can invoke a section of the procurement law and term it an emergency procurement to achieve mischievous objectives."

In what is feared to become a pattern, last month the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board barred the electoral commission from awarding the multi-billion shilling ballot papers tender to the Greek firm, Inform P Lykos (Hellas) S. A. That is, until the Africa Infrastructure Development Company's case is heard.

The ballot papers are for use in the next year’s elections, nine months away.

The Africa Infrastructure Development Company claimed the polls body breached the law when it settled on only one company to supply the ballot papers, register of voters, election result declaration forms to for polling stations and election results declaration forms for the constituency, county, and national tallying centre.

The Chebukati-led team is also battling another court case in which activist Okiya Omtatah has challenged the procurement of ballot papers.

The activist argues there is a plan to award De La Rue Kenya and EPZ Ltd the contract through a direct tender in violation of the law.

The contract, which was entered into two years ago, is set to expire at the end of the year.

In case number E238 of 2021, Omtatah wants the court to bar the IEBC from extending the contracts until his case is determined.

Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi said the legal hurdles should concern the commission and all stakeholders as they threaten the integrity of next year’s polls.

"Every step that the IEBC is taking [prompts] people to go to court and money is being spent on those processes. I think it is a matter of concern that requires to be addressed by all the stakeholders," he said.

"It is a concern that if you look at the amount of  money spent on legal services in the last elections, it was very high. It is a concern that this proliferation of court cases will only create opportunities for law firms to make money from the IEBC."

In her 'end of assignment' report, former IEBC commissioner Roselyn Akombe documented how court cases were used as an excuse to directly procure election materials during the last elections.

The former commissioner who fled to the US — she said her life was in danger — said procurement at the IEBC was dogged by corruption. She cited the procurement of the Kenya Integrated Election Management System (Kiems) kits and hiring of a media company as among the many tenders that were wrapped in intrigues.

Akombe said election years are a harvest season at the IEBC, with many tales of how procurement evaluation committees make a killing.

“There was a running joke that the only meetings which commission staff would attend on time were the tender evaluation committee meetings. The trend is the same when it comes to tenders at the constituency level,” Akombe has written.

“There are several accusations bordering on violations of procurement laws that can only be addressed through thorough independent investigations," she said.

Apart from the court hurdles, the commission is also facing a backlash from a section of politicians calling for a purge at the Commission.

Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu has called for the removal of Chebukati, saying he cannot be trusted with the next year’s polls.

“We can’t do the next elections with Chebukati in office. Not after what I saw in Kiambaa," he said.

"I know that Chebukati is allowed to support UDA. "It’s his democratic right as a Kenyan. But what is this about him copying official letters to members of the international community? He forgot we got Independence?" he asked.

The legislator was reacting to a move by Chebukati to copy members of international community in his reply to a letter from United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to the commission.

UDA had protested inclusion of state officers in poll planning teams tasked with ensuring a free, fair, transparent and credible general election.

UDA secretary general Veronica Maina said some of the officers had expressed support for rival ODM leader Raila Odinga.

(Edited by V. Graham)