IEBC fears summons by lawmakers may expose ‘weaknesses’

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati. PHOTO | FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Committee chairperson Opiyo Wandayi said the lawmakers would have direct access to the minutes in their original form.
  • Questions about procurement of key election materials and who did what have been playing out at the PAC, which has been questioning IEBC top brass.

The quizzing of electoral agency bosses on the findings of Auditor-General Edward Ouko could end up revealing, perhaps more than the commissioners may have wanted, the workings of the organisation.

This became clear on Wednesday when Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chiefs attempted to stop National Assembly Public Accounts Committee members from accessing copies of plenary minutes and discussing their contents in public.

Meanwhile, the Nation has seen copies of the IEBC plenary minutes in the lead up to the October 26, 2017 presidential rerun, which reveals that the commission was intimately involved in the discussion on Kenya Integrated Election Management Systems and procurement of ballot papers from September 8, just a week after the Supreme Court nullified Mr Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory.

KIEMS PROJECT

On September 8, 2017, the commission was informed that it was “technically locked to work with Safran” in so far as the Kiems project was concerned.

It is also in the minutes that the commission attempts to explain why the Supreme Court order to have the servers — hosted by NTT Europe Ltd — opened, was not implemented.

“NTT hosts government institutions and the domain is highly secure. The security layers on NTT servers were not penetrable. Accessing the server, with the Supreme Court directive, was not possible due to the limited time given,” the commission said.

During the meeting, the commission made three resolutions with regard to Kiems project for the presidential rerun: that the results transmission application be installed and made operational locally in the commission’s primary and secondary servers; that contact be made with Safran Identity & Security with the aim of engaging it for the election but under clear parameters and areas of improvement; and that NTT be maintained as a backup for hosting the RTS system application.

BALLOT PAPERS

With regards to the procurement of ballot papers for the presidential rerun, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati and then commissioner Roselyn Akombe voted against a resolution to award the contract to Al Ghurair of the United Arab Emirates.

At a September 13 meeting, the plenary again deliberated on Kiems areas of intervention and terms of reference for Safran, among other matters.

On September 28, Safran executives Olivier Charlenes, Jean Copin and Arnud Dupare, were invited to the a special meeting to discuss Kiems and other issues around them.

Questions about procurement of key election materials and who did what have been playing out at the PAC, which has been questioning IEBC top brass.

DIFFERENT NARRATIVES

The agency has given different narratives. One squarely blames former CEO Ezra Chiloba for single-handedly sanctioning the procurement of the kits and another by Mr Chebukati, which says the commission was involved.

A standoff ensued on Wednesday when IEBC protested PAC’s directive to the commission to supply the MPs with copies of plenary minutes for last year.

The committee is investigating how Sh9.5 billion was used. According to the Auditor-General, the money cannot be accounted for.

Mr Chebukati objected the move, saying the provision of the minutes to the committee and the discussion of the same would be captured by the media for public consumption “thus exposing the commission”.

He told the MPs that IEBC is ready to provide minutes of the matters under audit query.

PLENARY MINUTES

Mr Chebukati added that if the committee wants to discuss the plenary minutes, it has to be done in camera.

“We do not fear anything but any public agency has issues which are confidential,” the IEBC chairman said.

Mr Chebukati was supported by Mr Boya Molu who said exposing commissioners to the public on their stand to various matters could endanger their lives.

It is not clear why the commission is not comfortable with providing the minutes yet earlier in the year, Mr Chebukati told the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that IEBC would in future introduce a Hansard system for meetings.

The chairman said the commission would publish all minutes on its website to enhance accountability among commissioners “who take certain positions while in meetings but distance themselves from the same positions while in public”.

DISRESPECTFUL

Committee chairperson Opiyo Wandayi said the lawmakers would have direct access to the minutes in their original form.

“It is the committee that will decide what the media will access. I therefore direct the commission to furnish this committee with all the minutes in their original form,” he ruled.

Meanwhile, Mr Chiloba is expected to appear at the PAC in a week’s time to give his side of the story regarding queries raised by Mr Ouko.

Mr Chiloba was dismissed on October 12 over the audit queries and “discourteous and disrespectful conduct” towards the commission when he failed to honour summons by the IEBC disciplinary committee.