Issack Hassan, IEBC commissioners risk contempt charges

A parliamentary oversight committee has threatened to issue summons against electoral commission chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan for failing to honour, more than once, its invitations.

Mr Hassan has proved elusive as the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) seeks answers to queries raised in a special audit by the Auditor-General regarding procurement of Biometric Voter Registration kits, electronic voter identification devices and electronic results transmission devices used in 2013 polls.

The audit found massive irregularities that could have led to loss of billions of shillings of taxpayers’ money, in addition to the equipment failing during the polls, and hence denting the credibility of the exercise.

PAC chairman and Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo on Wednesday said should Mr Hassan and the eight other commissioners fail to appear, the committee may press contempt charges against them.

“This committee has the powers of a High Court and we will have to meet as a team and make a decision on the next course of action. We are likely to issue contempt charges against the IEBC chairman and the other commissioners,” he said.

SHED LIGHT

Mr Gumbo lamented the causal manner with which the commission was treating committee invitations to shed light on the irregularities and failures that beset the 2013 polls.

The message the commissioners are sending, he said, is that they are avoiding appearing before the oversight team.

“What are they hiding? The IEBC secretariat has appeared before us and they pointed to these commissioners ... as having ordered some irregularities. It is in their best interests to appear before us and exonerate themselves,” he said.

Mr Hassan was scheduled to appear on Tuesday at 10am and despite Mr Gumbo saying the meeting was still on schedule a few moments before, he later told journalists that Mr Hassan had sent a letter explaining his absence one hour after he had been scheduled to appear.

However, the PAC chairman said the reasons the IEBC chairman gave for his absence were not convincing, adding that in his letter, he had explained that he was out of the country and so he could not attend.

SACRED COWS

"The IEBC boss has been telling us he is out of the country every time we invite him to appear. Perhaps he should tell us whether he is paid to work in the country or from outside,” said the Rarieda MP.

A visibly angry Mr Gumbo declared the IEBC chiefs were not sacred cows, accusing them of wasting the committee’s time, saying they would face sanctions for failing to comply with the committee’s directives.

Mr Hassan is one of the commissioners who have been mentioned as having engaged in irregularities, with information coming from previous hearings indicating that he tried to introduce one of the bidders for the electronic election devices to a tender committee.

Former IEBC Chief Executive James Oswago also recounted how the commission ceded its independence under pressure from the two principals in the grand coalition government, Mr Mwai Kibaki and Mr Raila Odinga, leading to the government-to-government deal that cost taxpayers an over Sh4 billion loss.

Several top officials of the IEBC secretariat have appeared before the PAC and though they said some of the questionable decisions were taken by the commission, Mr Gumbo has insisted commission employees must take individual responsibility.

NOTHING TO HIDE

However, the electoral commission has denied reports its officials have snubbed invitations to appear before the parliamentary committee.

On Tuesday, the IEBC explained that the officials were unable to appear before the MPs because other officials had engagements outside the country which they had already confirmed.

“The Commission wishes to state that it has nothing to hide and is ready and willing to meet the parliamentary committee,” IEBC’s Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer Ms Tabitha Mutemi said.

According to her, it is the first time in the history of the Commission that Commissioners have been invited to appear individually before PAC.

She said the Commission is willing to comply and has proposed PAC to consider dates from August 31.

Additional reporting by Caroline Wafula.