NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 1 — Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has escalated his criticism of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission over its proposed election technology procurement, accusing the commission’s leadership of victimising officials who allegedly refused to support a tender he claims was designed to favour South Korean firm Miru Systems.

📻 Breaking It Down

Gachagua claimed that senior officials in the commission’s Supply Chain Management and Electoral Management departments had declined to give what he described as false testimony in proceedings before the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB).

The Democracy for Citizens Party leader alleged that the officials were subsequently transferred to counties outside Nairobi, while new officers were brought in to take over their positions.

“The Chairman and his Vice Chair have victimised officials in the two departments and transferred all of them, except the compromised head of department, to far-flung counties and replaced them with cronies,”he said.

📌 What You Need to Know

The claims come amid a procurement dispute over IEBC’s proposed Integrated Elections Management System (IEMS), which has already been challenged before the procurement review board.

The commission advertised the tender on August 11 for the supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning, support and maintenance of the IEMS, hardware and accessories. The tender was initially scheduled to close on September 1.

The procurement has been temporarily halted following a challenge before the PPARB by a prospective bidder.

Gachagua has repeatedly alleged that the tender specifications were tailored to suit Miru Systems and that the procurement process was designed to produce a predetermined winner.

IEBC chairman Erastus Ethekon has rejected the allegations, saying no company, including Miru Systems, had been awarded the tender.

Ethekon said the technical specifications were generic and performance-based and had been developed from Supreme Court directives, lessons learnt from previous elections and feedback from IEBC field officers.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya