Orengo as he presented the National Super Alliance’s case before the court on Friday/JEREMIAH WAKAYA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 30 – The Hearing of the case contesting the award of the ballot printing tender to Dubai-based firm Al Ghurair began on Friday.
Presiding judge Joel Ngugi set the date, after parties in the case appeared in court for a mention and directions in the matter, their three judge bench having been constituted by Chief Justice, David Maraga.
Jubilee Party has hired senior lawyers Fred Ngatia, Ahmednasir Abdullahi and Tom Macharia to defend the contract while NASA has a team of top lawyers led by James Orengo, Paul Mwangi and Ben Sihanya.
Other lawyers are Harrison Kinyanjui for interested parties while Peter Emale represents Third way Alliance.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), is putting a spirited fight to have the suit dismissed saying that cancelling the contract will have serious consequences.
NASA is opposed to the tender awarded to Al Ghurair Printing and publishing, while Jubilee Party supports the tender and has accused the opposition of trying to disrupt the General Election.
NASA’s contention is that relevant stakeholders were not consulted prior to the awarding of the controversial contract and that other integrity questions surrounding the firm’s dealings makes the firm unfit to be contracted.
The Opposition also wants the contract canceled more so because it believes President Uhuru Kenyatta had a hand in its award.
But IEBC says the case by NASA is an abuse of the court process which should be dismissed as it does not disclose any violations.
IEBC says the argument that it ought to have consulted public is misconceived.
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