Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Wafula Chebukati is next week expected to face National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee.
Members of Parliament are set to grill Chebukati on the financial dealings at the commission running into billions of shillings.
Also to appear before the powerful watchdog committee will be the other two remaining commissioners, Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu.
Chebukati will have to explain the rot regarding procurement before last year’s General Election.
The Committee to summon him will be chaired by Ugunja legislator Opiyo Wandayi.
Auditor General Edward Ouko, in his report on the operations preceding last year’s polls, revealed possible loss of billions of taxpayers’ money in suspicious contracts.
Ouko, in his audit analysis of the contracts awarded for the supply of goods and services used during the 2017 elections, revealed the commission could not satisfactorily explain millions awarded to contractors and suppliers, some who were unqualified.
Wandayi said the committee decided to prioritise the examination of the IEBC’s accounts due to the huge public interest that the commission has been attracting since last year’s elections.
“As PAC we have taken a pragmatic approach. We have chosen to fast track examinations of IEBC for 2016/2017. Letters have been dispatched. It is a matter of great public interest,” said Wandayi.
“A casual glance at the report tells you a lot of public funds were stolen. The committee will want to know who stole the money and how.”
The Ugunja lawmaker said PAC will sit on Tuesday and Wednesday and if need be on Thursday to finalise on the issues raised by Ouko.
Among the issues Ouko questioned included the award of a Sh1.1 billion transport contract which the commission claimed it procured at its county offices despite having no procurement officers at the time.
According to IEBC, the opening and evaluation of transportation tenders were done on the same day in all the 47 county offices, a claim the audit team dismissed, stating that the county offices had no procurement officers at the time hence no capacity to undertake the exercise.
During the October 16 presidential election, the report said, IEBC procured 42,947 ballot boxes at Sh2,500 each instead of Sh 2,250 offered by the supplier, resulting into an excess payment of Sh10,731,750.
“The presidential re-run provided ample opportunity for them to steal further,” said Wandayi.
Another supply where the report revealed millions could have been lost due to variation of the contract was the supply of badges used by elections officers and other accredited persons to access various polling and tallying centers across the country.
At first, the electoral body awarded the contract of 550,381 badges at a contract sum of Sh9,554,370.
This – according to Ouko – was later altered to Sh44,030,480 without explanation, occasioning a possible loss of Sh34,476,110 taxpayers’ money.
The report was tabled by National Assembly’s majority leader Adan Duale two weeks ago.
PAC’s move comes after National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi criticised two committees for failing to produce reports 10 months after they were formed.
Muturi said the Public Investment Committee and PAC, as well as other committees, had performed dismally compared to the previous ones.
He has directed Duale and Minority leader John Mbadi to meet PIC and PAC chairs.