Civil society leaders want Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to make public all documents related to ongoing row over biometric voter registration system

Speaking at a joint press conference in Nairobi, the leaders called on IEBC to immediately release reports of tender and evaluation committees as well as all correspondences related to procurement process.

“IEBC should adopt a system of maximum disclosure to remove any doubts over the integrity of the process. We will wait for them to release the information. If they don’t, we will go to court to compel them to do so,” said Transparency International executive director Samuel Kimeu

He added: “We believe that IEBC will be reasonable enough to realise that Kenyans have a constitutional right to access that information. The current tender process does not inspire confidence that it was done above board and in public interest.”

Executive Director of Africa Centre for Open Governance Gladwell Otieno demanded that the former IEBC tender committee that resigned after the row first erupted should make full disclosures of why they resigned

“At such a critical stage of the process, silence on this, by the former committee members does not give confidence about the integrity of the process,” she said yesterday.

During referendum

The leaders called on IEBC to cancel the tender altogether and pursue an expedited way of procurement preferably through restricted tender bringing together only companies that truly have a track record in executing that job.

They said that some of the companies that participated in the tender have no track record of having implemented such a system and seem to have hastily assembled themselves to win the tender.

“If a fresh tender is impossible, IEBC may configure and immediately deploy the electronic registration kits used during referendum. It is better to take slightly longer in registration than delaying the entire exercise,” said Executive Director of Muslims for Human Rights Alamin Kimathi.

Otieno wondered whether IEBC price was too low to attract competent and experienced biometric system solution providers since only two of the shortlisted companies quoted within IEBC’s budget.

Meanwhile, Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang criticised biometric voter registration and termed it a waste of national resources. Addressing the Press in Homa Bay town at the weekend, Kajwang told IEBC chair Issack Hassan to withdraw the programme since it is unnecessarily expensive.

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