IEBC has opted for a fresh tender after a number of bidders contested the procurement process amid fears the delayed tendering could hurt preparations for the August polls.
IEBC chairman Wanyonyi Chebukati said Tuesday the new tender process would be fast-tracked and completed by end of March as it explores avenues in the procurement law like “direct procurement or restricted tendering”.
The poll agency last week decided to seek a new firm to print ballot paper and not appeal a court verdict that cancelled its Sh2.5 billion contract with a Dubai-based firm, further putting pressure on election timetable.
The polls agency says it will issue a fresh tender for digital platform which incorporates voter listing, identification, and relay of results as it cancelled an ongoing procurement following court fights.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Tuesday opted for a fresh tender after a number of bidders contested the procurement process amid fears the delayed tendering could hurt preparations for the August polls.
IEBC chairman Wanyonyi Chebukati said Tuesday the new tender process would be fast-tracked and completed by end of March as it explores avenues in the procurement law like “direct procurement or restricted tendering”.
“This system is critical for the success of the 2017 General Election. It is urgently required to be in place by March to be used for the voter verification process that shall commence on May 10 as per the law,” he said.
“We shall not accept to be held captive by firms or individuals pursuing ‘tender wars’ to the detriment of credible, free and fair elections.”
The poll agency last week decided to seek a new firm to print ballot paper and not appeal a court verdict that cancelled its Sh2.5 billion contract with a Dubai-based firm, further putting pressure on election timetable.
The High Court stopped the award of the ballot papers Dubai-based firm Al Ghurair. The ballot papers must be delivered by May 28 in line with the law.
On the latest cancelled tender, the IEBC was already under pressure to meet the April 30, deadline for having the unified system in place.
The law requires integrated digital platform to be in place four months before elections and tested at least 60 days to the poll date.
A total of 10 companies were competing to supply the platform after the tender was advertised on December 16.
One firm challenged the tendering at the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority on December 28, but withdrew the appeal on January 20. The IEBC was rocked with another challenge last Thursday, prompting the cancellation of the tender.
“To mitigate against risks that may undermine the entire electoral process, the commission has decided to cancel the KIEMS (Kenya integrated elections management system) tender,” the IEBC said in a statement.
Firms that were keen on the digital platform tender included French firm Morpho-— which supplied 15,000 biometric voter registration kits for the 2013 polls.
Also seeking the multi-billion shilling IEBC tender are Amsterdam-based Gemalto, American firm Avante, South Africa’s Lithotech, Ghanaian tech company SuperTech Ltd, and Singapore-headquartered Novus Technologies.
Smartmatic, a UK based voting technology company with deep ties to billionaire investor George Soros, also submitted its bid.
Others that submitted bids for the elections digital platform are local firm Compulynx, South Africa’s Bigradap Group, and Spanish firm Indra.
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