MPs to meet envoys over poll kits tender

A parliamentary committee will meet four foreign diplomats next week over ongoing investigations into controversial procurement of voter kits by the electoral commission.

High commissioners David Angel (Canada), Sibabrata Tripati (India), Rubatatsi Moloi (South Africa) and French ambassador Ettienne de Poncins have been invited to meet the committee because their countries were either directly or indirectly involved in some of the processes.

The Public Accounts Committee chairman Ababu Namwamba said they wanted the diplomats to help Kenya unravel the mystery behind some of the procurements between the IEBC and companies domiciled in their countries.

“This is actually not a summon. It is an honest invitation done under the existing protocols to ask for their assistance in the ongoing investigations which we will extend to their home countries. We want their governments to be supportive and that is why we are meeting them,” Mr Namwamba said.

The meeting was initially scheduled to take place on Monday but was postponed to next week because Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho who was expected to facilitate it was out of the country.

The committee is investigating the procurement of the Biometric Voter Registration kits that cost Sh7.2 billion, Electronic Voter Identification Devices which cost Sh1.4 billion, Geomaps, metal detectors and lantern lamps.

Mr Namwamba said they were also expecting an audit report from the Controller and Auditor General’s office.