BY SAM ALFAN.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is now at liberty to conduct the proposed national voter registry audit through international firm KPMG.
This is after Judge Enoch Chacha Mwita dismissed an application by the opposition-CORD saying that the application is incompetent.
“The notice of motion is hereby struck out, “justice Mwita ruled.
The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) yesterday suffered a technical knock-out after the High Court struck out its petition challenging the procurement process and dismissed it as incompetent.
The target of the petition was a different tender floated by the IEBC and was incompatible with the orders issued by High Court Judge George Odunga suspending the appointment of KPMG, Justice Enock Chacha-Muita said in his ruling.
The Judge recalled that the international audit management firm had categorically denied having participated in the other undisclosed tender. Further, the court could not issue orders that were at variance with prayers sought by the petitioner, he said.THE controversial procurement dispute involving the proposed national voter registry audit will now be heard on March 3.
The controversial award of the tender by the national electoral agency to international audit firm, KPMG, was suspended last December after the opposition political party cried foul that the exercise was not transparent and excluded stakeholders. The sanctions remain in place pending the outcome of the petition.
Justice George Odunga conceded to demands by the IEBC last month to relinquish the file but flatly rejected an application to have Chief Justice David Maraga appoint a three-Judge bench to handle the matter. The IEBC was facing strict constitutional time-lines for the impending General Election and the contentious issues could easily be resolved by a single Judge, he had pointed out.
The Judge was categorical that the submissions raised by the IEBC for his exclusion “do not meet the test for the recusal or disqualification of a Judge.” Judges voluntarily handed over specific files to their colleagues without necessarily disqualifying themselves, he had observed.
CORD had protested that the proposed audit of the register of voters was clouded in secrecy and lacked accountability since the methodology and criteria to be employed had not been disclosed to ensure that the objectives set out in law were realized.
CORD was represented by Ugenya Senator James Orengo, assisted by lawyer Anthony Oluoch, IEBC by lawyer Wambua Kilonzo while Kiragu Kimani appearedfor KPMG as an interested party.
The tender is worth 149 million.
