• The Commission said politicians, litigants, and firms have failed to pay outstanding court awards of Ksh 400 Million to the Commission.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is hiring auctioneers to claim its debts owed by politicians.

The Commission said politicians, litigants, and firms have failed to pay outstanding court awards of Ksh 400 Million to the Commission.

Hussein Marjan, the IEBC Chief Executive Officer, says politicians who lost their cases in election disputes against the Commission and were directed by the courts to bear their own costs have since devised ways to evade payment responsibility.

While appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on August 26, 2024, Marjan said that the debtors had hired lawyers to avoid paying what they owed the Commission.

“Some petitions were filed by diligent litigants acting as proxies for politicians, out to cushion themselves from the Commission,” Marjan said.

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The CEO, however, neither mentioned the names nor did the number of individuals the Commission indicate that they had recovered Six Million shillings so far.

While explaining why the Commission opted for auctioneers instead of going back to the courts and suing the individuals for non-compliance, the commissioners said if they went back to the courts, the much the courts would give them would be a warrants of arrest, which might not yield much since they say it has been challenging even to find the individuals who filed the disputes.

While quoting the cost of the exercise to the Committee, Marjan said the auctioneers would be paid 1.5% of the amount they recover.

He lamented that the Commission is experiencing challenges in executing critical exercises on time because no active commissioners are in office.

IEBC was on the spot for manually disbursing funds to its various offices at the devolved units instead of using the required Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS).

This was brought to interrogation during the examination of the Auditor General's report for the year that ended June 30, 2022, at Bunge Towers, Nairobi.