Thread by @OkoaMombasa

🧵The Supreme Court issued its judgment last week on the SGR procurement case, which was first filed way back in 2014. It was not good. A quick thread summarizing (or you can read the decision yourself here: okoamombasa.org/en/litigation-…)

There were 3 key issues to be resolved: admissibility of evidence (mostly extensive documents obtained by the litigants via whistleblowers); environmental concerns and whether the Government followed proper procurement procedures.

On admissibility of evidence: The Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal, finding that the documents were "illegally obtained." An especially painful finding, given that we've been trying to obtain some of these docs "legally" for the past four years ...

... there's even an outstanding court order requiring the government to provide us these documents. But the government has chosen to ignore that. What recourse to Kenyan citizens have when the government illegally refuses to provide these documents? okoamombasa.org/en/show-us-the…

On the issue of environmental concerns: the Supreme Court affirmed the prior findings of the lower court that this claim was "without merit."

And on the procurement issue, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals, which had found that SGR procurement was done in contravention of Art. 227 of the Constitution and PPDA, 2005. This may be the biggest disappointment.

The SGR was single-sourced, with no competitive bidding - and colossally overpriced. The government claims the PPDA didn't apply because it was a "government to government" contract, which apparently gives them license to fleece Kenyan taxpayers. We disagree.

We believe the SGR deal didn't fit the requirements of a government to government contract & should have been subject to competitive bidding. Of course it would help us prove our case if the SGR documentation was made public. But the government is still illegally refusing that.

The Supreme Court's ruling once again underscores exactly why it's so important that they #ShowUsTheContracts for SGR. Transparency and accountability are key, otherwise these kinds of shady deals will keep on happening.