Harun Ndubi: We can't afford Sh80m to print voter register
Lawyer Harun Ndubi. During the proceedings for the presidential election petition on November 15, 2017, he said his client could not afford the Sh80 million the IEBC had asked for in order to print the voter register. It was later agreed that the commission provide soft copies of the register. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Lawyer Harun Ndubi wanted a copy of the voter register and the court granted his request.
- IEBC asked for Sh80 million to print the register, but the lawyer said his client could not afford it.
- It was agreed that the petitioners could be given soft copies of the register.
A lawyer representing one of the parties who has filed a petition challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election has frowned at costs being demanded by the electoral commission to facilitate the printing of the voter register.
Mr Harun Ndubi told the court that they had been asked by the electoral body to deposit Sh80 million in the commission’s accounts to facilitate the printing of the voter register.
EXPENSIVE
He said his clients Njonjo Mue and Khelef Khalifa, petitioners in the case, could not afford it.
“I must confess that the amount is a cost we cannot afford. We thought the state should assist,” Mr Ndubi said.
The proposal was, however, rejected by Chief Justice David Maraga, who said that it is the petitioners who made the application and should be ready to meet the cost.
“When you demand a printed copy, then you pay for it,” the CJ said.
SOFT COPIES
Through lawyer Fredrick Sisule, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) explained that the register runs to 450,000 pages. And if the copies were to be made faster, to comply with the court order, then the cost will be higher.
“To comply with the court order, the exercise should be done in a factory. But if we are to do it the other way, then the exercise will take about two weeks,” he said.
It was then agreed that the commission can give the petitioners soft copies of the register.
The court was also informed that the exercise of accessing the forms had already started, although late. Mr Sisule said that the forms had to be moved from its warehouse to a room at Anniversary Towers.
