Activist Okiya Omtatah has sued Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for withholding information on two contracts for the supply of ballot papers for 2022 general elections.
Omtatah claims the electoral agency is engaging a local supplier for a direct award of the tender contrary to procurement regulations.
In a petition filed at the High Court, he says IEBC is in violation of Public Procurement rules that stipulate that all public entities must advertise their tenders through the Public Procurement Information Portal.
“Contrary to it’s obligations under the law to publish the information, the commission has refused to release the copies of the two contracts which it holds yet the petitioner (Omtatah) requires the information to defend the rights enshrined in the constitution,” read court papers.
Omtatah says the electoral agency is about to renew its existing contracts for the printing of electoral materials with De La Rue Kenya EPZ Limited.
He now wants the court to bar the IEBC from extending the contracts until the case he filed last week is conclusively dealt with.
“The application is extremely urgent since the contracts are about to expire and all indications are that IEBC wants to extend the contracts to cover 2022 General Election,” the activist says in court papers.
Omtatah also wants IEBC to divulge information as to who participated in the restricted tender that had been floated initially.
Additionally, he wants to know how and why the electoral agency had settled on De la Rue, which had not shown interestwhen the restricted tender was floated two years ago.
According to Omtatah, he was compelled to file the case after the commission declined his numerous requests to provide information on the details of the contract.
“The commission has sat on its hands and decided not to act as required by by law and provide information requested as soon as possible,” he said.
He has argued and maintained the contract was and still remains shrouded in secrecy.
In February this year, Omtatah had written to the commission but did not get the information he sought, prompting his court action.
In March, Omtatah wrote to the Commission on Administrative Justice (The Ombudsman) seeking its intervention to have the IEBC disclose the details of the contracts.
The commission signed two restricted tender with De la Rue and EPZ Ltd two years ago.
The first was for the supply and delivery of forms 35A, which was signed on October 31,2019.
The second was for the supply and delivery of ballot papers, statutory forms and register of voters , which was awarded on September 20,2019.