Ouko puts Hassan on the spot over BVR kits scam

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Issack Hassan allowed a Canadian envoy to sit in a meeting that discussed the controversial procurement of biometric voter registers (BVRs) for last year’s General Election, Auditor-General Edward Ouko has said.

Mr Ouko says a scrutiny of IEBC documents had revealed that Tim Colby, the First Secretary for Development at the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi, sat in a meeting that discussed the planned procurement despite the knowledge that his country was interested in the tender.

“The presence of Mr Colby was highly suspicious given that the contract eventually went to the Canadian government,” Mr Ouko says, adding that the Canadian Government, an interested party, should not have been present at the meeting.

“It was wrong for the petitioner as chairman of the meeting to allow Mr Colby to attend knowing full well that the Canadian Government was interested in supplying the BVR kits, hence compromising the entire procurement process.”

Mr Ouko has made the revelations in documents he has filed in court in response to Mr Hassan’s application seeking to have his name removed from the audit report that holds him responsible for loss of Sh4.2 billion of public funds in irregular tendering for the BVRs.

The National Audit Office says its investigations into the procurement of the BVRs had revealed massive irregularities in the award of the tender to the Canadian Government.

Mr Hassan insists that the section of the report holding him responsible for irregular purchase or the election kits and for the loss of public funds contains untruthful and unfounded allegations that could see him unfairly sued to recover lost funds.

Kenya bought the 15,000 BVR kits using borrowed funds from the Canadian Government and at a price that was nearly double the initial budget.

READ: Auditor-General faults Hassan, Oswago over 2013 election kits

The so-called government-to-government deal was awarded to the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a subsidiary of the Canadian Government in August 2012 at a cost of Sh7.2 billion – nearly double the initial Sh3.9 billion shilling budget that the IEBC had set aside for the job.

Mr Hassan has denied inviting the Canadian official to the meeting, but Mr Ouko insists that as chairman of the commission he had the authority to deny Mr Colby a seat in the meeting.

“Mr Hassan should not have allowed Mr Colby to attend the meeting regardless of who invited him,” the Auditor-General says.

The IEBC chairman insists any claims that Mr Colby sat in the August 7, 2012 meeting are unfounded as there is no supporting evidence to back the claim.

“No single document is attached to either the special audit report or to the court papers. The Auditor-General made up those conclusions without any reasonable basis,” said Mr Hassan.

The IEBC chairman also maintains that he could not have been chairing any meeting to discuss procurement because the agency’s legal framework does not allow him to do so.

Such meetings, he says, can only be chaired by the accounting officer who cannot pass on the blame to him.

While admitting that a meeting was held in Mr Colby’s presence, Mr Hassan says it was only an informal consultative session that was attended by commissioners and senior IEBC staff.

“It is a fallacy to suggest that I can single-handedly make a decision without the commission,” he added.

The audit report that was tabled in Parliament last year shows that CCC had been kicked out of the procurement process at the evaluation stage but ended up winning the tender.

Canadian agency Export Development Canada (EDC) guaranteed the Sh4.6 billion loan that the Government of Kenya borrowed from Standard Chartered Bank – a deal that is thought to have influenced the award of the tender to the Canadian firm.

The ongoing court battle between Mr Hassan and Mr Ouko that began in August is expected to give the public deeper insights into the procurement that caused public uproar because of the steep cost that has left taxpayers indebted to the tune of Sh5.1 billion to Standard Chartered.

The National Audit Office says Mr Hassan should be held personally responsible for irregularities in the tendering process that led to the price inflation and ultimately caused taxpayers billions of shillings in losses.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is also investigating the procurement of the BVRs and other election equipment that has seen a number of top IEBC officials suspended and charged in court.

The Auditor-General insists that his officers got sufficient information from documents that the IEBC made available to compile a comprehensive report.

Mr Ouko has further accused the IEBC boss of lodging a premature suit, arguing that Parliament is investigating the matter and should be left to finish its job.

The audit report, he says, is just but a piece of the puzzle that the House committee is putting together to find the truth.

“The report presented to the Public Accounts Committee is part of the ongoing investigations by the National Assembly. Therefore, it is premature for the petitioner to allege that he has not been heard as his culpability has not been determined,” added Mr Ouko.

The IEBC boss in June wrote to the Auditor-General protesting the inclusion of his name in the report that could see the State claim Sh4.2 billion from him.

Another audit carried out by the Institute for Education in Democracy revealed that the overpriced machines resulted in a number of error during the election, including double registration of voters.

Mr Hassan has claimed that the Auditor-General is biased against him, and has in the past demonstrated the same through selective treatment that appeared to malign him.

Justice Isaac Lenaola on Friday ordered that the parties file their respective written arguments within 45 days so as to allow ample time for them to prepare for the December 9 hearing date.