IEBC Under Ksh2.7 Billion Legal Bill Debt That Can’t Be Explained
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is conducting a forensic audit following the discovery of a Ksh2.7 billion debt in legal fees.
IEBC officials, led by CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan, testified before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and struggled to explain how the fee amounted to billions.
Marjan pointed out that the commission had no control over the number of election petitions filed in various courts throughout the country.
He explained that while the commission had pre-qualified law firms, it was occasionally forced to seek reinforcement at various stages of court proceedings.
IEBC CEO Cornered Over Ksh2.7 Billion Debthttps://t.co/SombmyLFYX pic.twitter.com/O65l8dErXI
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He revealed that following the 2022 General Elections, the IEBC was faced with 124 petitions, which stretched their already thin legal team.
He added that the Treasury had planned to allocate funds to cover this, but the funds were never disbursed.
“We relied on Article 22 of the Constitution, anticipating funding from the exchequer. We couldn’t simply sit back while being sued and not defend ourselves,” he explained.
During the session, the committee and commission accumulated this amount while defending themselves in various election petitions filed over the previous ten years.
However, the committee claimed that the fees were exaggerated, which could indicate that public funds were misappropriated.
Butere MP Tindi Mwale, the committee’s chairperson, emphasized the importance of conducting investigations to determine whether the billions were properly spent.
Furthermore, the committee recommended that an investigation be conducted into the various law firms that represented the commission in the various election petitions.
The MPs claimed that some officials may have conspired with legal firms and city lawyers to defraud the public by charging exorbitant legal fees.
“We have also called for an investigation into the legal firms that have represented IEBC in petitions,” Mwale stated.
“We suspect that there may have been many instances of fraud, with accusations pointing to exorbitant legal fees that appear to defraud public resources.”
The commission was advised to hire qualified lawyers if it expected petitions after each election. This would reduce the country’s financial burden.
IEBC Under Ksh2.7 Billion Legal Bill Debt That Can’t Be Explained
