Raila Odinga opposes ballot tender award to Dubai firm
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga have addressed the nation on the ongoing national elections conference.
The President addressed the nation from Eldoret State Lodge while Mr Odinga was present at the event’s venue at the KICC in Nairobi.
THREATS
In his speech, President Kenyatta warned politicians against threatening the electoral commission.
He said the commission should be given space and ample time to prepare for the polls.
The President also reiterated his pledge to concede defeat if defeated in the August 8 polls as he appealed for peace.
For his part, Mr Odinga opposed the awarding of a Sh2.5 billion ballot printing tender to Dubai-based Al-Ghurair.
The award was in bad faith and predetermined, he said.
TENDER
"The award of the tender, going against a court order, shows that the IEBC was hell-bent on awarding the tender to the Dubai-based firm no matter what," he said.
He claimed that the firm had met with senior Jubilee officials in Dubai before sending representatives to Kenya.
These meetings, he said, had forced the IEBC's hand.
"It was ill-advised and unfortunate and it casts a dark shadow on the IEBC," the ODM leader said.
In his brief speech, he insisted that the tender should be reversed.
REFORMS
"It is not too late for the IEBC to do the right thing. We demand that it does the right thing," he said
The award was made by the IEBC in what the agency said was the firm's proven ability to provide the papers in time, and the critical timelines it has to meet ahead of the August polls.
Mr Odinga argued that while the IEBC had improved its responsiveness, "it is still not good enough a standard. It is a case of the worse and the good."
He also accused the IEBC of not cracking down on President Uhuru Kenyatta, who, he said, had used public resources and Cabinet secretaries to campaign.
The President, he said, was also using the Interior ministry to harass competitors, against the electoral code of conduct.
