JULY 29 2012: Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ), an independent umbrella body of Kenyan civil society organizations and our colleagues in civil society including Transparency International (TI) Kenya, Constitution & Reform Education Consortium (CRE-CO), Muslim Human Rights Forum, Center for Governance and Democracy (CDG), Institute  for Social Accountability (TISA) wish to express our concern over the procurement process for the Biometric Voter Registration System (BVR).

We believe that procurement of goods and services as well as the recruitment of personnel present two of the most important risk areas for the confidence of the electoral management body.

We note that the successful conclusion of free and fair elections also depends on the level of confidence that the Kenyan public has in the systems and processes of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). As such the IEBC should conduct itself in a manner that enhances or maintains the public confidence that the IEBC currently enjoys.

We are therefore concerned that the procurement process for the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) System as conducted so far poses the risk of diminishing the confidence levels of members of the public in the IEBC. This in turn has the potential to undermine the possibility of peaceful, free and fair elections.

While details are still unclear on what has so far transpired in the procurement process, it is apparent based on information made available by the IEBC that due diligence has been carried out on a company where it is public knowledge that it was blacklisted by competent government agencies almost a decade ago. In the absence of any information as to whether the company was cleared of any wrong doing and/or removed from the black list, it is imperative that the tender process is cancelled and a new process initiated and carried out in a manner that inspires public confidence.

We therefore wish to reiterate and demand as follows:-

1)     Whether Kenya will hold peaceful, free and fair elections largely depends on the confidence that Kenyans have in the electoral management body. All processes of the IEBC should therefore inspire confidence in the electoral management body.

 

2)     The current tender process for BVR does not inspire confidence that the process was above board and in the public interest. We therefore call for the cancellation of the tender and a re-commencement and management in a transparent and accountable manner. This was also the advice of the Public Procurement Oversight Authority.

 

3)     Considering that only two of the shortlisted companies quoted within the budget, IEBC should re-examine the tender to determine whether it was reasonably priced to attract competent, experienced and stable BVR solution providers.

 

4)     We further urge that an expedited way of procurement be pursued preferably by way of a restricted tender bringing together only companies that truly have a track record in providing this kind of IT solution and within very strict deadlines.

 

5)     In the event that an expedited restricted tender is not possible within the set timelines, we strongly urge the IEBC to configure and immediately deploy the electronic registration kits used for the referendum in some constituencies in the manner outlined by the Chairman at the IEBC press conference on 24^th July 2012. It is better to take slightly longer in registration than delaying the entire exercise altogether and defaulting onthe constitutional timelines.

 

6)     We demand that the former IEBC tender committee that resigned give Kenyans the reasons for their resignation. At such a critical stage of the process, silence on this, by the former committee members and by the IEBC does not give rise to confidence about the integrity of the process. This is information that the public has a right to.

 

7)     We further demand that politicians stop using the issues around the procurement of the BVR kits to deliberately mislead the public and undermine the IEBC.

 

8)     The IEBC should immediately adopt a system of maximum disclosure in all its processes as a way of keeping the public informed and engaged. For a start, we demand that the IEBC publishes for public consumption all the details, including the Evaluation Committee Report, the Tender Committee Report and correspondence relating to this procurement process. 

 

9)     We condemn strongly careless remarks associated with political operatives who would rather see the general elections delayed as much as possible. Elections must be held by 4^th of March 2013 as determined by the courts and no later than that.

Finally, we are determined to use all means within the law, including moving the courts, to protect the public interest in free and fair elections. We remind Kenyans that it was lack of confidence in the integrity of institutions such as the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya and the old Judiciarythat plunged Kenya into chaos in 2008. A recurrence of that chaos is a risk we cannot afford to take as a nation.

In closing, we once again pledge our support of and solidarity with the IEBC and urge it to take immediate and decisive steps to strengthen public confidence in its integrity and competence; we firmly believe that it is not too late to do so

(ends)

Nairobi, July 29, 2012.