House team criticised for allowing IEBC to buy equipment
IEBC clerk waits for people to register as voters at Nyahururu matatu stage in Nyeri town on February 17, 2016. Nyamira Senator Kennedy Okong’o has criticised a National Assembly committee for approving a decision by the IEBC to procure equipment for the 2017 General Election. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Mong’are said it was not proper for the IEBC secretariat to proceed with the procurement now, at a time when the team led by Mr Issack Hassan is set to leave.
Nyamira Senator Kennedy Okong’o has criticised a National Assembly committee for approving a decision by the electoral commission to procure equipment for the General Election.
Mr Okong’o said it was wrong for the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkong’a, to allow the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to buy the equipment.
“The law says the commission shall be responsible for the formulation of policy and strategy and oversight. The secretariat is supposed to present whatever it is doing to the commission for approval,” said Mr Okong’o.
Mr Mong’are said it was not proper for the IEBC secretariat to proceed with the procurement now, at a time when the team led by Mr Issack Hassan is set to leave.
He said it was, therefore, wrong for the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to have allowed the procurement.
“What they are doing is taking the country down a bad route. We are ill-equipped for the General Election,” said Mr Okong’o.
He added that the IEBC secretariat was setting the stage for a multitude of petitions after the elections.
The House team agreed with the IEBC on its plan to buy the equipment.
Last week, IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba said there is nothing wrong with carrying out the procurement now.
