IEBC Official: Gethi Firm Altered Tender Figures, Court Told
IEBC officials and Nairobi Law Courts building during tender fraud hearing
An Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official on Tuesday told a Nairobi court that a company linked to businessman Ben Gethi fraudulently altered tender documents—reducing its quoted price from KSh 127.4 million to KSh 105 million—to secure a supply contract during the 2013 General Election.
Testifying before Anti-Corruption Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi, IEBC Strategy, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Michael Douglas Oyalo said a parallel team that met at a Nairobi hotel manipulated the figures on Solarmark Technologies’ bid documents to portray the company as the lowest bidder.
Oyalo, who chaired the tender award committee, said Solarmark was recommended for the award because the committee believed it had quoted KSh 105 million, a figure lower than competing bidder Connection Systems, which had quoted KSh 107.4 million.
However, Solarmark was later paid KSh 127 million, revealing an excess of KSh 22 million above the awarded tender price.
Alteration Was Done Outside the Official Committee, Court Told
Oyalo told the court that his committee never saw the original tender register reflecting Solarmark’s initial bid of KSh 127.4 million and that he was unaware of when or by whom the alterations were made.
He added that the fraudulent adjustment appeared to have been done after the accused persons learned that another firm had quoted a lower price.
State prosecutor Warui presented evidence intended to demonstrate deliberate manipulation of bidding documents, arguing that the alteration amounted to deception in a sensitive procurement process for election materials.
KEBS Officer Corroborates Tender Evaluation Procedure
Another witness, Clement Chomu Miheso, Manager for Engineering Standards at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), told the court that IEBC requested KEBS to nominate officers for technical evaluation of the tender.
Miheso said he led the KEBS team in November 2012 at Utalii Hotel, where they jointly evaluated tender documents with IEBC officials. The evaluation covered three stages: preliminary, technical, and financial assessments.
Forgery Charges Against Ben Gethi and Directors
Businessman Ben Gethi, Joyce Makena, and Solarmark Technologies Ltd are accused of uttering a false Tax Compliance Certificate—KRA/18/038871/2012—on October 15, 2012, to IEBC CEO in relation to Tender No. IEBC 1/2012-2013.
They allegedly forged the certificate at KRA offices a day later, purporting it to be a genuine document issued by the Domestic Taxes Department.
Gethi and Makena are charged alongside Aden Katello Adan, Kennedy Guanye Ochae, Abdi Elema Ali, Gabriel Ngonyo Mutunga, and Willie Gachanja Kamonya, who are accused of colluding to alter Solarmark’s submitted schedules in the tender for the supply of solar lanterns for the 2013 General Election.
More Charges Pending
The group faces additional procurement-related charges linked to alleged irregularities in the tender process.
The hearing of the criminal case resumes on May 30.
