By Standard Team
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga meet the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Wednesday morning, as confusion over delivery of 15,000 Biometric Voter Registration kits deepened.
The move comes as the Government blames the delay in delivery of the equipment on a company mandated to supply them from Canada.
Finance minister Njeru Githae blamed the French firm, Safran Morpho, the appointed suppliers of the BVR kits, for the confusion and delayed payment for the equipment.
Mr Githae absolved both Treasury and the Attorney General from blame for the delay in purchase of the kits, noting that finance agreement was only received on Friday.
And as the blame game continued, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa made startling revelations about a move by certain people to sabotage the March 4 General Election.
Threatened to name
Mr Wamalwa linked the controversy surrounding the BVR kits to the same clique of people whom he threatened to name, saying they had hatched a plot to have the polls postponed.
Wamalwa, who disclosed today’s meeting between the principals and the IEB, which he would also attend warned those bent on jeopardising the exercise that they were doing injustice to Kenyans and he would soon name them.
“I am equally concerned as the IEBC chairman Issack Hassan with the delayed delivery of the BVR kits. I am wondering whether there are people trying to sabotage the elections,” Wamalwa said.
He said he would brief the two principles on the status of the acquisition of the kits and the cause of the delay.
“Whoever is responsible for the delay must be named and shamed in public. It will not matter if it is a leader or a bureaucrat at the Treasury,” he said.
Preparedness
“It is unfortunate that somebody is sabotaging the process of the BVR kits and soon we will find out and name the person so that Kenyans can know who is doing them injustice,” said Wamalwa.
The minister was speaking when he met European Union members at his offices in Nairobi on Tuesday over the state of preparedness of IEBC.
And the Parliamentary Committee on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIOC) said there should be no further delays in delivering kits.
CIOC chairman Abdikadir Mohammed said the Government should not give excuses for delays, adding that Kenyans should go to the polls on March 4.
“The Executive gave us the impression that acquiring the kits would be simple and would be done fast. We will hold them squarely responsible for any delays,” he stated.
Three phases
The CIOC chairman said it is up to the Executive to fulfill their promise to Kenyans by ensuring the kits are in the country in time for the polls.
Abdikadir, while responding to questions from journalists at Continental House in Nairobi soon after meeting a delegation of MPs from Tanzanian, said IEBC is yet to raise concerns with them.
Githae said the kits would be delivered in three phases and that each batch would have 5,000 kits and the deliveries will be made by air to save time.
“I can tell you Treasury is blameless and the AG is blameless. Before I went to attend the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund meetings, I had authorised the payment of the deposit, but it only required the approval of the AG,” he added.
Githae further said the AG could not have approved it because the finance agreement only arrived on Friday from the suppliers and the AG received and signed the advance copies on the same day.
He said the AG got a formal copy of the financing agreement on Monday, which he signed giving Treasury the legal mandate to open the letter of credit to enable the supplier to deliver the kits.
“I want to assure Kenyans that elections will be on March 4. Treasury will provide all the necessary funding to IEBC, police and security because we want to have free, fair and credible elections,” said Githae.
Wamalwa reiterated the electoral process was on course and urged civil organisations to continue with civic education.
Head of EU Delegation to Kenya, Lodewijk Bret, expressed concern over shipment of the BVR kits delaying voter registration.
Briet also commended the Government for maintaining the date of election and reiterated their support for a free, credible and transparent election.
“Our anxiety has reduced tremendously since we have seen great effort on the part of the Government in regard to the electoral process. We will support IEBC to conduct a free, fair and a credible election,” said Briet.
This comes after concerns were raised over the acquisition of 15,000 BVR kits, which according to Wamalwa, have not all been manufactured.
Undergo training
However, the Justice minister said clerks expected to handle the exercise have all been recruited and are supposed to undergo training soon.
The exercise is monumental, as Kenya currently has no credible voter register. The BVR kits will improve the accuracy of the voters roll by eliminating double registration, registration of minors, and non-citizens and ensure names of dead voters are not on the register.
All eyes are now trained on the commission, which must hire and train registration clerks on the use of the kits within two weeks before beginning voter registration on November 1. According to the timetable released by IEBC, the registration would last 30 days, and there would be no extension.
The commission must make all logistical plans to ensure the estimated 18 million voters are listed electronically for them to be eligible to take part in the elections.
––– Reports by Rawlings Otieno, James Anyanzwa and Allan Kisia
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