NASA appeals judges' decision on Uhuru link to ballots printer Al Ghurair

From left) Dr.Roselyn Kwamboka,Consolata Nkatha (IEBC commissioners), IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati (Right) and IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba (behind) when the commission awarded Dubai based Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing Company Limited a contract to supply of ballot papers for August 8 general election.This was on 9 June 2017 at Nairobi Safari Club Hotel.Photo by Edward Kiplimo.

The opposition coalition has appealed a decision dismissing its bid to link President Uhuru Kenyatta to a foreign firm awarded a tender to print ballot papers.

The National Super Alliance (NASA) yesterday filed the appeal arguing that High Court judges erred by holding that there was no evidence to show that Uhuru met with the directors of the Dubai-based printer, Al Ghurair.

High Court judges Joel Ngugi, John Mativo, and George Odunga found that NASA did not prove that Uhuru had a hand in the award of the tender.

The Opposition in its appeal now says that it is the Jubilee Party that ought to have disapproved the allegations by providing evidence that there was no such meeting.

"The learned judges erred in law and fact in failing to appreciate the contextual circumstances of the case in their appraisal of the evidence of association between the second respondent (Al Ghurair) and the President of the Republic of Kenya," the appeal filed by lawyer Jackson Awele read.

It is a cross appeal to counter another one filed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) against the judges' ruling that the tendering for the presidential ballot papers lacked public participation.

The High Court judges also dismissed NASA's argument that there was bias in the way IEBC awarded the tender. But the alliance now argues that there was a history of the firm getting the award despite this being nullified by the Public Procurement and Review Board. NASA wants the court to dismiss IEBC's appeal.

[Kamau Muthoni]