Electoral team now evaluates firm in voter kit tender row
IEBC chief Isaack Hassan. The Electoral commission has moved to allay fears that the lowest bidders for voter registration kit were by-passed. Photo/File
The electoral commission will Wednesday conclude due diligence on Symphony — the firm it cleared for a Sh3.85 billion tender for the supply of biometric voter registration kits.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Isaack Hassan, however, dismissed queries raised over its decision not to award the ender to the lowest bidder— 4G Identity Solutions of India which quoted Sh3.7 billion.
“We wish to assure Kenyans that we are committed to our core values of teamwork, independence, accountability, transparency and respect for the rule of law. In this regard, we wish to assure that tender for Voter Registration (BVR) kits will be concluded in accordance with the procurement law,” Mr Hassan said.
But he regretted the delay in concluding the process.
The commission said the exercise was above board and that it would ensure the electoral process is credible.
“We have a highly trained professional staff. We have a roadmap that we strictly adhere to. We ask for patience, understanding and support from all of you,” Mr Hassan said.
He said the procurement of registration of voter’s kits is different from electronic voting and asked politicians not to politicise the new technology.
“No one can rig this election using voter registration kits. This is not electronic voting,” he said adding that the tendering process for the kit followed the law and was informed by extensive consultations with other electoral management bodies, UNDP, ICT Board and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
The commission, he said, received a total of 29 bidders and that the tender evaluation committee comprised 10 representatives of IEBC, Kenya Bureau of Standards, UNDP and IFES as observers. He said after preliminary examination of mandatory requirements, 18 firms were disqualified, with the Technical Evaluation committee clearing four firms that met conditions in the bid specifications.
Mr Hassan defended the commissions’ tender committee that resigned earlier, saying it quit after awarding the tender to Face Technologies of South Africa which quoted Sh8.1 million, higher than the commission’s Sh3.9 billion budget.
“They resigned as a matter of principal having awarded the tender to the company that quoted Sh4.78 billion above our budget,” he said.
Acted on advice
He said the commission declined to offer 4G Identity Solutions and Face Technologies the tender after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Security Services advised against the two based on their capacity to deliver.
“Due diligence is under way…We expect our team to table its report by 3 pm on Wednesday,” said Mr Hassan.
Mr Hassan, who was accompanied by all the commission members, said the electoral team was aware of the high public expectations placed on it towards the journey to the March 4 General Election.
He said the tender for the procurement of fingerprint-reading machines would be concluded in time, and that the electoral body had written to Parliament, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Procurement Oversight Authority seeking information on Symphony.
“We want to know if this company has been blacklisted by the Public Accounts Committee as claimed in some quotas. We have read that Parliament may have named it in its reports in 2006 and that is what the due diligence committee will be trying to find out,” he said.
He said he was optimistic the commission would procure the kits in time adding that if Symphony delayed in delivery , the commission would replicate and use the registration machines which used in 18 constituencies for pilot voting during the by-elections.
“The IT department has confirmed to us that we are able to replicate the solutions in the machines that we procured for pilot process in the 18 constituencies. We will be able to have at least one machine for each of the 1,450 wards in Kenya to start registration,” he said.
