13/07/2022
I am watching this interview where journalists of different media houses are interviewing Chairman Chebukati and CEO Marjan.
The two have been asked whether IEBC did a due diligence on Smartmatic International, before hiring the company to supply voter identification system for the 09/08/2022 general election.
They have not answered the question conclusively.
Smartmatic International, the company contracted to supply voter identification system in next month’s polls, has a controversial track record that has seen multiple countries question the reliability of its technology in the aftermath of poll disputes.
From the US to Venezuela, Zambia, Uganda and the Philippines, Smartmatic’s reputation has taken a hit amid accusations of tender irregularities and providing kits that are vulnerable to tampering.
Smartmatic builds and implements electronic voter systems. It was contracted by IEBC to supply up to 10,000 KIEMS kits for use in the upcoming polls. It is also the software provider for the kits, having replaced OT Morpho, now called Idemia, which was the technology service provider for IEBC in 2017.
An article in The Manila Times of Philippines published on January 31, stated that a government agency of that country, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre (CICC) concluded that Smartmatic "is compromised" following the 2016 elections.
✅In the US, Smartmatic accused the Fox News network of promoting a false narrative in the aftermath of the hotly contested 2020 US elections. Smartmatic provided election technology in one US county during the 2020 polls.
✅In Venezuela in 2017, Smartmatic on its own acknowledged that turnout voter figures were manipulated by at least a million.
✅In Uganda, the biometric voter kits failed, forcing election officials to revert to the manual system.
✅Failures and irregularities of the voting system in the Philippines were cited by some candidates for their failure to win. Their country’s cyber unit confirmed the allegations after an investigation.
That's the tech company with dark history that Chebukati hired to provide vote identification details in the next month's general election.
I have been saying here for a long time that Chebukati is reckless and incompetent to handle the upcoming general election. It has been proved.
~ Fuata Nyuki-Wa Kûngû