IEBC bosses to shed light on Sh9.5bn loss
What you need to know:
Mr Chebukati will face the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- The report, which was tabled in Parliament two weeks ago, showed that goods were procured but not delivered despite being paid for.
Lawmakers have summoned Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati to explain how Sh9.5 billion was lost.
The money was for contracts awarded for the supply of goods and services during the 2017 General Election and repeat presidential poll.
Mr Chebukati will face the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, on Tuesday and Wednesday to respond to queries raised by Auditor-General Edward Ouko.
PUBLIC FUNDS
The report, which was tabled in Parliament two weeks ago, showed that goods were procured but not delivered despite being paid for. Some were delivered but have never been used.
Mr Wandayi said Kenyans are concerned as State officials waste public funds.
“A casual glance at the Auditor-General’s report shows a lot of money was lost. The public must be told what happened and why,” Mr Wandayi said at Parliament buildings.
The MP said the committee will give priority to the IEBC audit and table a report 10 days after it hears from Mr Chebukati.
MAJOR EVENTS
“It is our duty to deal with the issue,” Mr Wandayi said.
The lawmaker added that the commission must come clean on issues raised since the country is gearing up for major events "such as the proposed referendum, delimitation of boundaries and the update of voter registers".
The committee is yet to decide if it will invite suspended IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba.
“We have invited the current IEBC commissioners. We will decide if we need to call other people,” the Ugunja MP added.
DATA BUNDLES
According to the audit, the commission bought 149,640.5GB of data bundles valued at Sh127,625,926 million for the elections yet only 605.3GB valued at Sh515,269 was utilised.
The data bundles were supplied by Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.
The report also indicates that IEBC mismanaged 1,000 modems and SIM cards loaded with data.
Mr Ouko further reveals that IEBC procured additional 42,927 ballot boxes for the presidential election at a rate of Sh2, 500 instead of Sh2, 250.
