Appellate Court judges during issuing of the ruling, July 20, 2017. [Photo: Twitter]
The National Super Alliance (Nasa) has suffered a blow, after the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling, that saw, the alliance win the case on presidential ballot papers printing.
The Court had blocked IEBC, from going on with with printing of the materials, by Dubai-based Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing LLC, after it was found culpable of not involving the public during the tendering process.
It was a victoru to Nasa, as it claimed the firm owners had close ties with President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is competing with its presidential candidate, Raila Odinga. Nasa wanted the tender be issued to alternative firm.
However, IEBC appealed the ruling, and a five judge bench ruled on Thursday, that Al Ghurair firm should go ahead with the tendering.
According to the judges, the High Court erred in granting the blocking orders on the grounds of failure to involve public participation.
They said public participation was not a requirement in direct procurement, which IEBC used, to award the contract to Al Ghurair, and faulted the High Court for allegedly failing to recognise there was insufficient time to award the tender to another firm, since elections date is first approaching. However, the appellate judges agreed with their High Court counterparts in rejecting claims that President Kenyatta met Al Ghuarair officials and that he influenced the tender award.