Used car inspection tender gets approval

What you need to know:

  • “The request for a review was filed out time, contrary to the regulations requiring it to be presented within seven days from the date of notification (from Kebs) as required by law,” Mr Gicheru said.

  • The losing trio had urged the review board to nullify the entire tendering process and order Kebs to conduct it afresh and be slapped with the cost of the proceedings.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards has been given the green light to award a Sh1 billion-a-year pre-shipment vehicle inspection contract to Japanese firm Quality Inspection Services Japan (QISJ) following the dismissal of an appeal filed by three losing bidders.

The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board on Wednesday threw out petitions lodged by Japan Auto Inspection Services (Jevic), Auto Terminal Japan (ATJ) and East Africa Automobile Services (EAAS) for lack of sufficient grounds to challenge the process.

“The procuring entity has thus been cleared to proceed with the tendering,” board chairman Paul Gicheru said in the ruling.

The panel dismissed appeals by Jevic and EAAS on technical grounds and rejected a request by ATJ for a review as it had been filed out of time.

FILED OUT OF TIME

“The request for a review was filed out time, contrary to the regulations requiring it to be presented within seven days from the date of notification (from Kebs) as required by law,” Mr Gicheru said.

The state quality control agency awarded the contract exclusively last month to QISJ, which has been providing the service together with Jevic and Auto Terminal Japan (ATJ) since 2012.

Kebs was, however, forced to extend the terms of both ATJ and QISJ for three months upon their expiry on January 15 to provide room for the review board to hear the tender appeal.

Losing trio called for review
The losing trio had urged the review board to nullify the entire tendering process and order Kebs to conduct it afresh and be slapped with the cost of the proceedings. Mr Gicheru did not, however, order Kebs to shoulder the cost of the proceedings.

Kenya imports nearly 7,000 second-hand cars a month from Japan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Kebs contracts an inspection firm to ensure that vehicles from these markets are right-hand drives, not over eight years old and roadworthy.