Huduma Sh1.8bn tech tenders queried
Customers wait to be served at a Huduma centre in Mombasa on May 15, 2015. Some tenders to supply ICT services to Huduma centres have been questioned. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- MPs said the way the two firms were contracted raised questions and asked the officials to provide documents.
MPs on Thursday put two principal secretaries on the spot over a Sh1.8 billion contract for the supply of ICT services to Huduma centres.
ICT Principal Secretary Victor Kyalo and his Public Service counterpart Lillian Omollo were questioned by the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee chaired by Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo on how Linksoft Integrated Services and Verve KO won the tenders.
MPs said the way the two firms were contracted raised questions and asked the officials to provide documents.
Linksoft was awarded a contract worth Sh798 million while Verve won one for Sh988 million.
“The procurement was through open tendering and in accordance with the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005,” said Mr Kyalo.
However, Mr Gumbo said the committee had received complaints about the tenders.
“The complaints are that the two vendors developed the ICT specifications for the centres and the tendering was merely a cleansing process because they had already been identified,” said Mr Gumbo.
He said the companies would be summoned to tell their side of the story.
