Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Parties in talks to conclude voter kits deal



  SHARE BOOKMARKPRINTEMAILRATING
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan told a parliamentary committee on September 18,2012 that key officials were concluding the “works contract” in readiness for the Biometric Voter Registration.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan told a parliamentary committee on September 18,2012 that key officials were concluding the “works contract” in readiness for the Biometric Voter Registration.   NATION MEDIA GROUP
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, September 18  2012 at  11:42
IN SUMMARY
  • Officials concluding the “works contract” in readiness for the voter-registration exercise, says IEBC chairman Isaack Hassan.
Key officials from the electoral commission, government and the Canadian Commercial Corporation are holed up in a meeting to put final touches on the contract that will pave way for Biometric Voter Registration.
Isaack Hassan, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday morning, that the officials were concluding the “works contract” in readiness for the voter-registration exercise.
Also in the meting at Anniversary Towers, Nairobi are representatives from the State Law Office and the Ministry of Justice.
Speaking during a meeting in Nairobi’s County Hall, the IEBC chairman said that there were simultaneous negotiations both within IEBC, at the Cabinet level, at the Treasury and with the supplier to ensure that the BVR kits get into the country on time.
“We expect all these negotiations to be concluded by this Thursday, September 20, 2012,” Mr Hassan told the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC). The signing of the contract is expected later Tuesday or Wednesday.
John Tuta, the Chief Legal Officer at the Ministry of Justice added: “As soon as the contract is signed, the supplier should be able to supply these kits within a week or so. As the chairman of the IEBC has said, the elections will be held on time, March 4, 2013.”
The MPs sought an assurance that, in the event of a hitch on the procurement, the date of the polls will not be affected
“We want to be assured that you’re firmly in charge of this matter as far as procurement is concerned,” said Abdikadir Mohammed, the chairman of the CIOC.
“We have a lot of uncertainty going on regarding the elections timetable, and we want clarity.”
Share This Story
  
Voter registration
The lawmakers said they wanted the timelines put down, to know when the voter registration will be done.
“We’ve asked that they go ahead with the factory order, even as we deal with the technical details and the paperwork,” said the IEBC chairman.
The technical contract will specify the type of laptop; the thumbprint reader and the cameras.
The IEBC CEO, James Oswago, said the commission plans to begin voter registration “on any day between October 11 and October 20”, with the hope that within 30 days, the commission should have registered 22.5 million voters.
“Strictly speaking, you cannot have 15,000 kits within fourteen days. We want an initial delivery of 2,000 kits for training, and as the training is going on, we get 5,000 kits before the end of the 14 days, and thereafter the rest of the consignment,” said  Mr Oswago.
The maths is that with 15,000 kits, in 1,450 wards in the country, each registering 50 people per day, for 30 days, will net 22.5 million voters. Mr Oswago said the IEBC had advertised for 29,000 posts, and got 300,000 applications for the jobs.
Those applications are being processed at the regional offices, Mr Oswago said.
“The challenge is not on the capacity of the machines to register more, the challenge is to mobilise more Kenyans to come and register. The key challenge is not when we’d start; it’s when the register will be ready,” said Mr Oswago.
Lands minister James Orengo, who chairs the Cabinet committee on the matter, said he was confident that the polls will be held on time.
“I think what the IEBC is doing and has done, there’s every indication that the elections will be held on time. I don’t want to say more than that,” said Mr Orengo

No comments:

Post a Comment