credit: -Nation
SHAME has Five IEBC bosses set to face graft charges
This
follows investigations on the procurement of the electronic voter
identification kit that failed during the March 4 elections.
Sources
at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission said investigations were complete
and could result in the prosecution of five managers over the Sh1.4
billion purchase of Electronic Voter Identification Devices.
The
investigations were ordered by the Supreme Court as part of the ruling
on the presidential election petition filed by former Prime Minister
Raila Odinga challenging the declaration of President Uhuru Kenyatta as
the winner.
The anti-corruption body is also
investigating the procurement of Sh107 million solar lamps and the Sh7.2
billion Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits.
On
Wednesday, it also emerged that Face Technologies, a South African firm
which supplied the Evids, has slapped the IEBC with a further Sh156
million ($1.8 million) bill for the supply of additional gadgets and
unforeseen costs.
The firm won the tender in December
last year but the process has been questioned after the devices failed
on the elections day.
Among
the charges are deliberately delaying the awarding of the tender to get
time to solicit money from the bidding companies and to pave the way
for emergency purchases that skirted laid down procurement procedures.
Another
charge relates to buying valueless commodities, known as trinket
procurement, with the intention of conferring value to themselves and
the vendors.
Inflating prices
It
is understood that Face Technologies sub-contracted a Chinese firm
which supplied Evids which were not branded and failed on the elections
day.
The managers might also be accused of failing to
verify the devices once they were delivered and ordering an additional
3,000 others without the approval of the tender committee.
