IEBC bought sim cards at highly inflated price
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati addressing the press in Mombasa on February 22, 2018. The commission is on the spot for reportedly buying sim cards at three times the market price. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The documents show that the commission has so far paid Sh287.6 million in legal fees.
- Iseme Kamau and Maema Advocates are demanding Sh164 million for cases handled in the run-up to last year’s elections.
The electoral agency bought phone sim cards at three times the market price for last year’s elections, MPs were told on Thursday.
An ordinary card was bought at Sh173 instead of the normal retail price of Sh50, members of the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee heard, prompting Molo MP Kuria Kimani to ask: "What kind of sim cards did you buy because we also use sim cards and they don’t cost Sh173?"
He added that the commission should have obtained them at a cheaper price because it was buying in bulk.
Suna East MP Junet Mohamed asked: “Were these special sim cards and not the normal ones that we know and who ordered them?”
MORE DETAILS
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi demanded an explanation from the commission's ICT director, Mr James Muhati, on how the decision to buy the cards at such an inflated price was made and whether he actually saw them.
Mr Muhati asked for more time to check the details on how procurement was done and report back.
Head of procurement Bernard Nyacheo pointed blame at the commission's former CEO, Mr Ezra Chiloba, saying that he ordered direct purchases of the sim cards.
Documents presented before the committee showed that the poll agency owes lawyers who represented it in various petitions arising from the 2013 elections about Sh437 million. Iseme Kamau and Maema Advocates are demanding Sh164 million for cases handled in the run-up to last year’s elections.
SH40.8 MILLION
The commission has also not paid Mr S.M. Kilonzo Sh40.8 million for a case in which an activist, Mr Maina Kiai, took it to court over provisions of the election laws in results declaration. The documents show that the commission has so far paid Sh287.6 million in legal fees.
The commission has a total of Sh2.6 billion in pending bills for goods and services supplied for both the August 8 General Elections and the repeat election on October 26.
