Nanyuki meat firm lobbies MPs for army supply deal
What you need to know:
- , which has been supplying the Nanyuki army base with meat for more than three decades, wants MPs to investigate procurement practices at the Department of Defence.
- The company has written to the Clerk of the National Assembly complaining of restricted tendering, a departure from practice since 1964.
A Nanyuki-based meat processing firm has taken on procurement officials at the Department of Defence who it accuses of using restricted tendering to lock it out of a lucrative supply contract to the Laikipia Army Barracks.
Jack Wright (1982) Limited, which has been supplying the Nanyuki army base with meat for more than three decades, wants MPs to investigate procurement practices at the Department of Defence.
“They are hiding behind the pretext of security to float tenders for meat and other foodstuffs through restrictive or direct tendering unlike in the past when we have been using open tender to compete for them,” Fazal Butt, a director of Jack Wright, told the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday.
Restricted tendering
Fazal and the company’s board chairman, Mohammed Butt, have written to the Clerk of the National Assembly complaining of restricted tendering, a departure from practice since 1964.
“Jack Wright (1982) Limited is a meat processing factory, based in Nanyuki from as early as 1964, which has invested over Sh200 million in infrastructure, storage facilities, cold rooms. Our facility has supplied the military camps in Nanyuki and Isiolo satisfactorily for over 30 years,” Fazal told MPs.
He said in May 2015, Jack Wright tendered for the supply of meat to Nanyuki base unit only to receive a regret letter indicating that they were not successful.
“Apparently, the contract was awarded to a Nairobi firm, Quality Meat Packers, at a price of Sh328 per kilo and our quoted price was Sh290 per kilo,” he said.
Fazal said their decision to appeal the award of the tender to a separate firm at the procurement review board in August 2015 saved the taxpayer Sh20 million after the tender was cancelled.
He said the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) annulled the tender which had been awarded to the Nairobi firm at a higher price.
Lowest bidder
The PPARB directed the military to award the contract to the lowest bidder and the tender was subsequently awarded to an Isiolo-based meat supplier which had given a Sh260 per kilo bid.
“After the expiry of the contract in December 2016, the Ministry of Defence never advertised this tender and other tenders for other foodstuffs for other regions in the local daily newspapers as normally done.
The Nairobi meat contract was advertised in the local dailies in April 2018,” said Fazal.
He said a restrictive tendering was done and awarded for two years, which will expire in December this year.
“The Procurement Act, section 102 does not allow for restrictive tendering for foodstuffs. We were not included even in the restrictive tendering despite being the largest supplier of meat outside Nairobi.
“Apparently, the only reason we see that the restrictive tender was done, is to keep our firm out and award the contract to a firm of their choice at a higher price than we could have offered,” said Fazal.
