The cancellation of a Sh3 billion tender for the supply and installation of a Kenya Integrated Elections Management System is a cover-up of corruption by the IEBC, Amani leader Musalia Mudavadi has said.
In a statement yesterday, Mudavadi said it points at corruption in the award of the tender and not inadequate budgetary provision and lapse of statutory timelines as claimed by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
He said by cancelling the tender awarded to French firm Gemalto SA was “corrupted” through interference by some procurement appeals and oversight board officials.
“We call for thorough investigations to expose the dirt that the IEBC intends to cover, especially the role of the procurement oversight authority in awarding the tender before it was evaluated by IEBC,” Mudavadi said.
“Why is IEBC accepting all the liabilities unless there is an underhand understanding with Gemalto SA for compensation? Will such compensation be legal and justifiable in the context of the controversy surrounding the award?”
The electoral agency cancelled the tender on Wednesday, citing inadequate budgetary allocations and time constraints.
The commission is exploring ways of ensuring the electoral technology is in place before the August 8 date for the polls, including hiring from countries that have used the technology or upgrading the equipment used in the March 4, 2013 election.
Mudavadi said the IEBC has been reluctant to establish an oversight committee on the elections management system that the National Super Alliance demanded.
He said that it appears such a committee would have been an inconvenience in circumstances where soiled awards, such as to Gemalto SA, were to be made.
“It is alarming when the letter of termination of the tender suggests time has run out for having KIEMS in place. This is not only curious for IEBC to suggest that it will be almost impossible for the commission to execute its mandate within the statutory timelines, but also a terrifying thought that there might never be the KIEMS,” Mudavadi said.
He said the KIEMS is not a choice for the IEBC to make but a mandatory legal requirement in the conduct of elections.
The cancellation of the tender award to Gemalto SA should not be an excuse for the commission to circumvent the law in having KIEMS in place for a credible election, Mudavadi added.