State ignored my advice on BVR, Attorney General Githu Muigai says

Attorney General Githu Muigai yesterday told a parliamentary watchdog that crucial advice from his office was ignored before the controversial biometric voter registration (BVR) kits were acquired by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

He told the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the Government signed the kits supply agreement but there is no evidence his legal opinion was sufficiently considered by the Treasury.

Attorney General Githu Muigai with PAC Chairman Nicholas Gumbo (left) at Parliament Buildings yesterday. (PHOTO: MOSES OMUSULA/ STANDARD)

A letter from the State Law office addressed to then Treasury Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua and IEBC Chairman Isaack Hassan had suggested that the Government performed an integrity check on Morpho Canada, which was single-sourced to supply the Sh6 billion hardware.

"My advice was that this being single-sourcing, you must demonstrate through a paper trail how you arrived at this position," he said.

In the letter, the AG also wanted the Treasury to investigate the relationship between Morpho Canada and Morpho Safran in in France before sending the final document to his office for approval.

"In light of the substantive nature of the issues pointed out, it is our advice that those matters be addressed effectively in the negotiations and in redrafting the agreement. Once all issues are agreed, and reduced into the agreement, kindly send us a cleaned copy document for review as necessary," the letter stated.

But the issues were not addressed in the final document, as the Government rushed to acquire the expensive kits, some of which failed during the voting day.

John Mbadi (Suba) asked the AG to give a definition of a 'government-to-government agreement,' procurement method that was used to acquire the kits.

"What animal is this and is it an avenue to circumvent procurement procedures?" he asked.

Committee Vice-Chair Jackson Rop Kipkelion (West) asked why the AG changed his opinion and gave go-ahead for the kits procurement.

The AG, however, insisted that he only played an advisory role. "We closed our file after giving our advice and only reopened it when you called us before this committee...If you want to know the details of the commercial transactions ask the Treasury, but if you want to know the legal aspects, ask me," Muigai told the committee, chaired by Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda).