Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission commissioners accused of 'idleness'

IEBC head of voter registration Muthoni Wangai stress appoint when she was grilled by PAC on 2013 BVR tender and the measures taken to ensure fair election 2017 at Parliament Buildings 14/09/15 PHOTO BY MOSES OMUSULA

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners were hard-pressed yesterday to defend their employment on full-time basis before members of a parliamentary watchdog that prefers part-time engagement.

Appearing before the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the commissioners had a difficult time justifying their being in office daily and drawing a monthly salary, as they failed to outline what they do from 8am, when they report to work, and 5pm when they leave.

Commissioners Albert Bwire, Muthoni Wangai and Kule Godana could not expressly state what their full-time operations entail, though they maintained that their hands were always full fulfilling their constitutional mandate.

"Even the public has come out to complain that you do not have enough work to have you retained as full-time commissioners. They say that because of this, you find yourself doing all forms of work, including that which should be done by clerical officers," said PAC Chairman Nicholas Gumbo.

But the commissioners, who were appearing separately over the ongoing probe into the procurement of electronic devices used in the 2013 polls, defended themselves, arguing they were involved in issues of voter education, registration and boundaries, which require their daily attention.

"It is a very hard question to respond to because we are employed full-time, but it would be challenging to define daily duties," Ms Godana said.

The rationale of having the IEBC commissioners on a full-time basis has previously been questioned, with the National Assembly Speaker openly saying they were idle, with little to do in between elections. The Speaker has also called for a reduction in their numbers from nine to three.

"We have nine commissioners waking up everyday pretending to go to work. Which work? Which policy is this they are working on every day and when will it be implemented?" posed Speaker Muturi during a meeting with editors.

 INFLUENCING TENDERS

Yesterday, the commissioners denied allegations of influencing tenders, particularly the procurement of electronic voter identification devices, saying the tender processes were purely in the hands of the former Chief Executive James Oswago.

"Once we were done with the approval of the procurement plan and the budget, we left the matter in the hands of tender committees," said Mr Bwire, who was the chairing the commission's committee on Finance.

The commissioners were also unanimous in the claim that they were not involved in the cancellation of the first tender for the procurement of biometric voter registration kits, before the same were procured through a government-to-government procedure, claiming they learnt of the cancellations through a media news alert.

The commissioners also denied having vested interests in the tenders, even as Mr Gumbo claimed that there were accusations of the commissioners engaging in 'tenderpreneurship'. The hearing continues this morning when the IEBC Chairman Isack Hassan, is expected to appear before the committee.