IEBC tender row persists as election clock ticks

By Moses Njagih and Peter Opiyo

A new tender board trying to resolve the crisis over the Sh3.9 billion voter registration kits contract for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission met until late Wednesday evening as concern mounted over the impact of the standoff.

By the time we went to press, there was no word on whether the matter had been resolved, as the new team that replaced the former group led by Ms Praxedes Tororey remained tight-lipped.

Wrangles over the tender forced the resignation of the initial board as IEBC sought to fast track the tendering process. The row over the purchase of the 9,750 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits has sent fresh fears of delays in the electoral process, with the IEBC bosses admitting registration of voters, which was to take off in mid-next month will now be pushed to early September due to the imminent delay in acquisition of the kit.

Wednesday evening, sources told The Standard that the new tender board headed by Immaculate Kasaiti was still scrutinising the shortlisted tenders before making an announcement.

“The team has been meeting the whole day, but I think the earliest they can announce the winner is tomorrow (Thursday),” said the source at the IEBC.

The delays in acquisition of the BVR has led the IEBC to revise its earlier programme for the elections.

The delay has been occasioned by a standoff at the IEBC, where vested interests in the lucrative deal sparked infighting.

At the centre of the controversy was the recommendation by the former committee to award the tender to a company that had quoted a price above IEBC budget, and which was ranked third of four companies shortlisted

Questions were raised after the Tororey committee recommended that Face Technologies, which had quoted Sh4.78 billion, be granted the tender. Their quotation was over Sh810 million above the Sh3.97 billion IEBC budget for the kits.

Face Technologies’ quotation was higher than that of 4G Identity Solutions who quoted Sh3.72 billion and Africa Symphony at Sh3.85 billion.

Only On Track Innovations, with a quotation of Sh8.22 billion, had tendered a higher figure than Face Technologies.  

The decision by the committee to recommend Face Technologies forced the IEBC Chief Executive Officer James Oswago to refer the matter to the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) seeking the body’s advice.

Questioned process

Oswago sought to know if it was prudent to award the tender to a firm that had quoted above the IEBC’s budget, and which was ranked third.

The PPOA questioned the manner the tendering process was undertaken. In a letter to Oswago PPOA Director-General, a MJO Juma, questioned whether this may have played a role in the resignation of the tender committee.

PPOA poked holes in the initial tendering process questioning how unauthorised persons were allowed to attend the opening of the tenders, the different requirements given to the bidders, and the awarding of the tender to a firm that quoted above IEBC budget.

According to correspondence in our possession, CODE Inc. claims it talked to IEBC chairman, Isaak Hassan on how a solution can be found on the tendering, and suggested to Mr Hassan that CODE Inc was ready to partner with a firm to supply the kits.

“I should say that I contacted the Chairman (Hassan) and offered a possible solution to the, can we say stalemate, and told him I thought (sic) a way out of the dilemma might be a cooperative effort to and I thus mentioned in a frank and direct manner we would be open in working with a another firm,” said Mr Gordon Sinclair in a letter to Symphony.

Hassan confirmed that CODE Inc. asked him whether it could partner with a company, after it lost the bid. CODE Inc. was not among the four companies shortlisted, and Mr Hassan said the firm was not happy at failing to secure the tender, given that it had worked with the IEBC’s predecessor, IIEC before.

“They asked me whether they can partner and I told them to see if he can work with any of the four companies shortlisted, but we did not identify any specific company,” Mr Hassan told The Standard.

He said given that the company had worked with the electoral body, it was unhappy to have lost the tender and sought his audience.

In the correspondence, Mr Sinclair points out to Africa Symphony that it can make enquiries from its representative in Nairobi, Davis Chirchir, a former commissioner at the electoral body.

“We also have an office in Belgium where our Biometric Voter Registration operations is handled and we have a representative in Nairobi who can speak on this present issue, he provided me with your contact details and instructions to give you a call. His name is Mr Davis Chirchir (former commissioner at the IIEC) and you can talk to him on issues related to our past service...” Mr Sinclair wrote.

But when contacted by The Standard, Mr Chirchir denied being CODE Inc.’s representative in Kenya, but said he does “some little work for them”.

“No, I am not its representative, I only do some professional work for them,” Chirchir told The Standard.

Recommended

Mr Sinclair notes that CODE Inc was unable to partner with any of the three other companies that were ranked by the re-evaluation team, namely Face Technologies, India-based 4G Identity Solution and On Track Innovations because of doubts over their experience in Africa.

The Tender Committee recommended that Face Technologies be awarded the tender even after quoting Sh4.78 billion, Sh810.7 million above the Commission’s budget.

4G Identity Solution was ranked first quoting Sh3.72 billion, followed by Africa Symphony at Sh3.85 billion, Face Technologies was third while On Track Innovations was ranked fourth quoting a price of Sh8.22 billion.

In trying to win the heart of Africa Symphony, which was ranked second by the Re-evaluation Committee that constituted development partners, Mr Sinclair lists the company’s relationship with MPs and the Kenyan embassy in Canada.

“The Kenyan embassy in Ottawa is emphatically and overwhelmingly vocally in support of CODE and its capacity, as the head of the mission voices, is the only logical answer to successful implementation of the Biometric Voter Registration project,” wrote Mr Sinclair.

“We have impeccable relations with members of Parliament who themselves are aware of the capacity of CODE ,” Mr Sinclair states.

But in response, Africa Symphony said they were not interested in a partnership, but were focused on closing the deal, and believed IEBC was also comfortable with their presentation.

“I have thought about it (your mail) and have also discussed with others in my team. We are a critical juncture of the project and our concentration is focused on closure of the deal right now,” wrote Rajender Singh Sachdeva, Africa Symphony Managing Director.

Mr Sachdeva further stated that his company has other partners.

“My initial reaction is that over the last six months we travelled quite a distance with some of our current partners, and it may not be easy to switch unless there is customer centric compelling reason,” wrote Mr Sachdeva.