Smartmatic sues IEBC over Sh500m debt
National
By
Kamau Muthoni
| May 06, 2026
A court battle between the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and election technology provider Smartmatic International Holdings BV has erupted over close to Sh570 million alleged unpaid debt.
In its case filed before the Commercial High Court, Smartmatic claims the commission decided to pay for the contract in Kenyan shillings, instead of the agreed US dollars.
The court heard that a dispute arose, which ended up before an arbitrator who subsequently found that the Erastus Ethekon-led commission had breached its end of the bargain. However, the firm said IEBC did not appeal or challenge the amount awarded during the arbitration.
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“The claimant asserts that there were delays in payment contrary to the express terms of the contract. More importantly, the claimant argues that the respondent purported to apply an exchange rate meant for the purpose of assessment of the responsiveness of the tender, to payment of the invoices that had been raised and which were payable in USD.
During the arbitration, Smartmatic argued that it suffered foreign exchange loss as the IEBC used a negotiated exchange rate with its commercial banks for the dollar, which at the time of the dispute was at Sh 124.45 for a US Dollar.
It claimed the result was a loss of its margins due to the commission’s decision to pay in Kenya Shillings instead of US Dollars. Smartmatic said that there were attempts to amicably solve the dispute, but they proved futile.
“The respondent herein has failed to file any application seeking to set aside the award within the timelines stipulated by the Arbitration Act, and as such, there exists no reason whatsoever to delay the recognition and enforcement of the award,” said Smartmatic’s Managing Director, Rans Gunnink.
Smartmatic was demanding at least USD5.03 million, arguing that the commission had unsettled invoices. “ There were delays in payment contrary to the express terms of the contract,” the company argued, adding that it had done its end of the bargain by ensuring that Kenya had held its 2022 election.
It demanded that the IEBC be compelled to pay 13 per cent per annum interest, from April 1, 2024, to the date of the judgment. On the other hand, the commission denied that there were unsettled invoices.
It argued that the exchange rate applied in the invoices was agreed upon on May 4, 2022, in the contract between them. IEBC, however, admitted that there was an existing contract. The commission stated that the agreement was that Smartmatic would be paid within 30 days of invoicing, following delivery and acceptance of services.
It asserted that only three invoices were pending payment, and was in the process of being settled after release of funds from the exchequer. The commission also urged the arbitrator to ignore the interest claim, arguing that the contract did not expressly provide for interest on delayed payment.
On the foreign exchange loss issue, the commission stated that the contract was fixed at Sh 107.90 for a dollar. It asserted that there were no losses as Smartmatic was allegedly aware during the signing of the contract that the commission had settled for the exchange rate.
The commission also said that the contract was in Kenyan shillings, but the dollar invoicing was only adopted as the company had no local banking partner.