For credible elections, MPs vote to block Huduma Namba firm

Members of the public register for Huduma Namba at AIC Burnt Forest in Uasin Gishu County on April 24, 2019. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The MPs want Idemia Securities Limited blocked for at least 10 years, citing a violation of the Companies Act and interference in the last two general elections.
  • The PAC found the French firm to have operated in the country illegally as it was not registered when it went into business with the government, contrary to the companies law.

The ongoing nationwide Huduma Namba registration exercise was on Wednesday thrown into jeopardy after members of the National Assembly voted to block the French firm that is providing the infrastructure from doing business in the country.

The MPs want Idemia Securities Limited, which was awarded the Sh6 billion tender, blocked for at least 10 years, citing a violation of the Companies Act and interference in the last two general elections.

MPs amended the report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the audited accounts of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and voted to have the firm held accountable for irregular payments it received in the 2017 General Election.

Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the Huduma Namba listing drive will, in the meantime, continue despite Parliament’s move as the registration “is a national exercise with clear objectives”.

LICENCE

Speaking to the Nation on phone last evening, Mr Kiraithe however said the government is still studying the decision by Parliament.

“It is premature to give a comment before seeing the actual details of what the MPs passed,” he said, warning that the government risks paying huge damages if it terminates ongoing contracts.

Interestingly, the company has also put in a bid for the multibillion-shilling population census, due in August this year.

In its findings, the PAC, chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, found the French firm to have operated in the country illegally as it was not registered when it went into business with the government, contrary to the companies law.

However, its findings and observations appeared to be inconsistent with the recommendations as the committee only sanctioned the IEBC but left Idemia untouched.

PROSECUTION

This did not go down well with Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, who started the process to draft the amendments.

“The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) must investigate Idemia and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should institute appropriate criminal action in line with the Companies Act for doing business with IEBC without being registered locally as required by law,” said Mr Kaluma.

Idemia has, since working with IEBC, been contracted to provide technology services for the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS), known popularly as Huduma Namba, which was launched in Machakos on April 3, 2019 by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Similar launches were held in other parts of the country by Cabinet secretaries and opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Kalonzo Musyoka and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula.

The NIIMS project is the platform on which the Huduma Namba rests. The entire project seeks to collate personal data from Kenyans and foreigners in the country under one system by capturing individual biometrics.

REBRANDING

Curiously, the firm has changed names thrice during the five years it has had lucrative deals in the country.

In 2013, the firm supplied the multibillion-shilling Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits as Safran Morpho, before changing to OT-Morpho in the 2017 elections.

On Wednesday, Majority Leader Aden Duale said that the company must be dealt with if the country is to hold fair and credible elections.

He also faulted its frequent name changing, saying that it looked suspicious.

“This company was invited by PAC but failed to honour the invitations until it was compelled to do so. We must deal with it if we want to have free and fair elections in 2022. Companies that do business in Kenya must be ready to follow our laws, otherwise they will get into corruption and unethical behaviour, and they don’t employ our people. They must do business ethically, the same way they do in France,” he said.

GUIDELINES

Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi wondered why the company was getting preferential treatment to do business in the country.

“The frequent change of name raises credibility issues,” Mr Osotsi said. “This is the same company that claimed that servers could not be accessed. It interfered with the transmission of election results. It did funny things on the server and if a report were to be produced now, we would not be talking about this company as we are doing,” he added.

According to the Companies Act, a foreign company should not do business in the country before it is registered by the Registrar of Companies. And local shareholding must be at least 30 per cent.

The companies law further provides that a foreign company should have at least a representative in the country.

But the management of Idemia admitted to the House team that the firm did not have a local representative after the committee served the head office in France.