The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has signed contracts with two firms to supply election materials despite two pending court cases challenging the award of two tenders.
The tender awarded to Greek company Inform P Lykos and Dutch firm Smartmatic is for printing and supply of ballot papers and maintaining the management system for the August polls.
IEBC chief executive Marjan Hussein Marjan said they had gone ahead to sign the contracts because the court did not bar them.
“Despite the suit challenging the award of the two tenders, the court did not stop the process. It has never issued an injunction,” he said.
The Sh3 billion tender for printing and supplying ballots is a three-year open tender that requires the firm to supply statutory election result declaration forms that will be used at constituency, county and national tallying centres.
The Sh4 billion Kenya Integrated Election Management Systems (Kiems) tender involves the supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning, support and maintenance of software, hardware and accessories for running the polls.
Unsuccessful bidders went to court to challenge the awarding of the tender to supply Kiems kits to Dutch firm Smartmatic and the ballot printing tender awarded to a Greek firm – Inform P Lykos Holdings claiming the award was illegal.
Inform P Lykos Holdings had been picked from a pool of 12 firms that bid for the supply of ballot papers.
Risk Africa Innovatis Limited is challenging the award of the Kiems tender to Smartmatic, arguing that the data migration was not budgeted for at the time the tender was floated.
The firm claims the procurement was not done by a fully constituted commission.
Kiems kits and the ballot papers are two integral components of the election and delay in procuring them could affect the integrity of the August 9, 2022 polls.
In 2017, challenges in the transmission of results led to the nullification of the presidential election.