IEBC Chair Isaack Hassan risks jail, fines for contempt

Nairobi, Kenya: The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Isaack Hassan risks jail or hefty fines after National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) threatened to cite him for contempt.

PAC Chair Nicholas Gumbo said Hassan skipped invitations to appear before the committee for the third time Tuesday to face questions on by the Auditor-General’s special report on the procurement of the Electronic Voter Identification Devices used in 2013 General Election.

“The IEBC Chair keeps telling us that he is out of the country when we summon him. But we believe that he is just giving excuses. We hold the opinion that he may be having something to hide,” he said Tuesday in Parliament after the committee adjourned its session.

He added: “We don't know what he is scared of. That is what is really increasing our curiosity and determination to know what is going on. We are not happy that he appears not to be taking this committee seriously.”

The audit report had raised questions about Hassan's role in the alleged inflated prices of the Biometric Voter Registration kits used the in last elections.

The report, dated June 6, 2014, suggested that if competitive bidding was a success, Sh4 billion could have been enough to purchase BVR kits to register Kenyans for the general election, but the figure swelled to Sh6.2 billion.

Also facing similar risk of being cited for contempt is IEBC Vice Chair Lilian Mahiri-Zaja who was to face the committee Tuesday afternoon but also skipped the session, according to Gumbo.

The PAC Chair said that the committee will meet soon to decide whether to cite Hassan and other IEBC top officials for contempt, a move that may see them face jail or hefty fines.

He said the committee has the powers similar to a High Court and can send the IEBC Chair and Commissioners to jail if they don't take the committee's work seriously.

"We could have made a decision on this matter today but the committee lacked quorum. So we will do so in the next meeting," said Gumbo, without explaining how the committee lacked quorum if PAC members themselves took the expected meeting with IEBC Chair seriously.

The PAC Chair said that on other occasions, IEBC top officials have failed to appear before the committee saying they are busy in the field.

“PAC will not work around the programme of IEBC. We also have our own programme, which they must abide with because we are the representatives of the people. We have our annual accounts to clear before the year ends.”

Among the questions IEBC chairman Isaack Hassan was to face from MPs is circumstances under which the contract value of the electronic voter identification device was varied by more than 10 per cent.

Several top IEBC officials including former CEO James Oswago have already appeared before the committee to respond to queries contained in the report.