The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been ordered to pay a company Sh152 million for the supply of solar lamps procured for use during the 2013 general election.
Konnection Systems Ltd successfully argued that it won a tender to supply 28,000 solar lamps in 2012, but the electoral body failed to collect the lamps, forcing it to incur storage charges.
The contractor told High Court judge Josephine Mong'are that the IEBC instead contracted Solarmak Technologies to supply the lamps, but Konnection Systems challenged the deal at the procurement board and the tender was cancelled.
“From the evidence before the court, it is clear that the offer was sent to the plaintiff on 7th February 2013, which the plaintiff accepted by executing the acceptance clause. The execution of the acceptance letter created a valid agreement. I thus find that there was a valid agreement between the parties,” said the judge.
The judge noted that the IEBC refused to pick up the lanterns, forcing the company to incur losses from storage and warehousing charges.
The commission's defence was that the solar lanterns were procured for emergency lighting during the March 2013 general election, with immediate use in mind.
And due to time constraints, the IEBC said the supplier had confirmed quick delivery of the lanterns.
However, Konnection Systems Ltd allegedly failed to meet the delivery deadline, forcing the IEBC to engage another company.
But when the matter was taken to the Public Procurement Administrative and Review Board, the tender awarded to Solarmak Technologies was annulled and the IEBC was ordered to re-evaluate the bids and award the contract to the lowest-priced bidder.
Mr Robert Mworia, a witness for Konnection Systems, said they had incurred storage charges for goods in a warehouse since they were imported.
Justice Mong'are said the allegations had not been refuted or any explanation given by the IEBC as to why this had happened. "The same therefore remains uncontroverted," the judge said.
