A company is seeking Ksh 270 million from IEBC for printers used during the tallying of votes. However, while the electoral body used the printers, it is refusing to pay, claiming the firm didn’t deliver the printers to the specifications that it gave out in the tender.
The ‘disputed’ printers is yet another gadget that the electoral body seemingly bungled. Through lawyer Gitonga Mureithi, Office Technologies wants IEBC to pay the millions
“Actions by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have denied my client the use and benefit of the contractual sum to its detriment,†lawyer Gitonga Mureithi said.
“The IEBC has equivocally admitted the debt as claimed. Their statement of defence is scandalous, frivolous and vexatious,†Mr Mureithi said.
But the IEBC legal affairs manager Mahamud Mohamed Jabane, denied the claims saying the printers did not match the required specifications.
“The IEBC will tender evidence to show that the goods supplied differed in a material way from those specified in the tender,†Mr Jabane said.
He said the printers were available for collection by Office Technologies from the IEBC warehouse should they deem it necessary.
And Mr Wilfred Mutubwa, the IEBC lawyer, said failure of the company to deliver goods as per the specification constituted a fundamental breach which discharges the electoral commission from making payment.
Ruling will be on July 11.