The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been ordered to pay a company Sh248 million for communication services offered during the 2007 elections.
Justice John Chigiti ordered IEBC chief executive officer Hussein Marjan to Scanad Kenya Limited failure to which he will be cited for contempt of court and risk jail.
"IEBC have not given any satisfactory reason as to why they have not paid the amount as previously ordered by the court nor have they made any efforts towards settling the claim. The CEO is hereby compelled to make the payments as ordered by the court," ruled Justice Chigiti.
He added that requirements for fair administrative action shall remain a dead provision unless IEBC and any other entity that has been ordered to pay some claims are compelled to do so.
Scanad Kenya through lawyer James Gitau Singh sued the commission for failing to pay the amount ordered by the court in April 2021.
The dispute dates back to 2007 when IEBC contracted the company to provide strategic communication and integrated media campaign.
Although IEBC in its defence agreed that they owed the company the amount, it indicated that they were unable to settle the debt due to budgetary constraints, and that once budgetary allocation is made, the payment would be made.
Justice Ngenye Macharia on April 26 2021 ruled in favour of the company and directed the commission to pay Sh245 million plus interest at the rate of 2 per cent per month.
The commission however failed to pay the amount for over two years, which prompted them to file the application to compel the IEBC chief executive officer to pay up.
