•IFES provided technical support to IEBC and Registrar of Political Parties.
•CSOs are concerned that the systems having been queried in the 2017 ruling should be a warning agaisnt engaging the entity.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Britain has stood by its decision to award a Sh1.2 billion tender to a mix of international and Kenyan organizations for technical support to the IEBC in 2022.
A British High Commission spokesperson told the Star that the consortium led by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) was selected to deliver the elections support programme.
The official said the tender award followed “an open, competitive and rigorous selection process.”
“The funding and organising of elections is a responsibility of the government of Kenya. Our programme aims to provide technical support to build on lessons learned and improve standards, to help strengthen the democratic process,” the spokesperson said.
Local civil society organisations are jittery over the involvement of IFES, saying the entity failed to deliver in 2007, 2013, and 2017 elections.
The non-state actors want the government to bar the organisation from participating in IEBC capacity building for the 2022 vote.
Three independent-expert evaluation reports also cast aspersions on the entity’s capacity to provide technical assistance.
The Johann Kriegler team said the organisation was ineffective in rendering technical assistance in the 2007 vote, which was highly disputed.
An evaluation commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme – Kenya on the 2013 election also cited the ineffectiveness of IFES.
Two expert reports by the USAID also blamed IFES for the failed election results transmission system in 2013.
IFES provided technical support to IEBC and Registrar of Political Parties.
It dealt with voter registration and results transmission, procurement advisory, developed results management software - including the results transmission system - and the IEBC dispute resolution framework.
The reviews concluded that the technical assistance provided to the IEBC was below par.
But the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office held that it conducted due diligence on IFES and consortium partners.
“The due diligence was conducted before selecting the consortium, as we do for all our governance programmes,” a source at the office said.
There were doubts on whether Britain conducted due diligence on the organisation prior to the award in mid-October.
IFES dismissed the allegations, saying it does not administer polls directly, therefore has no direct link to failures of an electoral management body.
The American organisation further dismissed claims that it has no legal footing in Nairobi.
Angela Canterbury, director of strategic communications and advocacy, told the Star that IFES is “legally registered and maintains good legal standing in Kenya.”
She said the organisation has successfully supported political processes in Africa for over 30 years.
“IFES provides project-funded, targeted technical assistance. It has supported Kenyan-led democratic development in the country since 2002 and stands ready to continue working in local partnership to support the Kenyan electoral process" Canterbury said.
IFES had run-ins with the authorities ahead of the 2017 polls when its Sh3 billion USAID-funded Kenya Electoral Assistance Programme was suspended.
The government appears not keen on international organisations meddling in the country's elections.
The Foreign Affairs ministry recently advised the UNDP that Nairobi was yet to call for technical support to the IEBC.
IEBC, officials have warned, could be faced with a funding headache if its doesn't get support for key activities tied to the 2022 election.