The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is in trouble over the payment of excess charges of over Sh1 billion.
The Public Accounts Committee headed by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi has summoned the IEBC officials to explain why it paid lawyers involved in the 2013 election petitions Sh2.1 billion instead of Sh1 billion.
The summon follows a report submitted to parliament by the Auditor-General Edward Ouko who revealed that the electoral commission paid 68 lawyers who represented it in petitions in 2013 General Election Sh1 billion more than they were initially owed.
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Mr Ouko in the report said that IEBC in 2014, then led by Isaack Hassan, said that it owed the advocates Sh1 billion, but a scrutiny of the fees showed that the lawyers had already been paid Sh2.1 billion.
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“The commission has not provided documentary evidence of cases represented and payments thereof to justify and support payments in excess of recorded pending bills,” Mr Ouko said in the report.
The auditor also established that letters of instructions to the lawyers were signed and owned by the director of legal services and not on behalf of the commission, contrary to the law and the IEBC’s human resources manual.