Irrigation board dam contract awarded to highest bidder

The National Irrigation Board has reversed a Sh30 billion tender for the construction a dam in Turkana in what appears to have caught the eyes of MPs.

The tender had been awarded to Sinotec Company Ltd and others for the construction of Lowaat dam project but China International Water Electric Corp (CWE), which had quoted Sh18.5 billion, successfully appealed against NIB's decision to the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB).

The review board annulled the tender and directed NIB to conduct fresh evaluation. On June 22, NIB notified CWE that it would now undertake the construction of the dam at Sh18.5 billion. The PPARB chaired by Mr Paul Gacheru accused NIB of awarding the tender to Sinotec Company limited fraudulently and in disregard to the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2005 after the Chinese company claimed that the irrigation board had violated the procurement law by falsifying its bid papers.

EVALUATION

CWE argued that, though it had bid for Sh18.5 billion, NIB falsified its bid documents to reflect Sh29 billion in violation of the procurement law and also to justify the award to Sinotec Company limited and others.

According to the review board, CWE had quoted the lowest bid at Sh18.5 billion, followed by Sinotec Company limited and others at Sh29.99 and Cooperative Muratori at Sh35 billion.

The law provides that the bidder who presents the lowest bid after passing technical and financial evaluation should be awarded the tender after passing the mandatory technical and financial evaluations. The law further prohibits a procuring entity in this case, NIB, from changing the prices set out in the tender forms. The project was awarded in 2017 and had CWE not appealed, Sinotec Company limited and others would have undertaken the project at a whooping Sh30 billion.

INVESTIGATION

This means that the government would have lost about Sh12 billion had the review board not annulled the tender. The Sh12 billion is also more than the Sh9 billion theft at the National Youth Service (NYS). Dagoreti North MP Simba Arati on Sunday said that he would petition the agriculture and livestock committee of the National Assembly to investigate the matter.

“The move by NIB is an admission of guilt. The fact that they have corrected does not mean that it ends here, I will be petitioning the House for investigation so that the irrigation board tells us why it was motivated by the second highest bidder as opposed to the lowest,” Mr Arati said.

The PPARB, in annulling the tender, directed the NIB to conduct a fresh evaluation for the construction of the dam within seven days of the ruling that was delivered on June 11. The fresh evaluation was to involve the applicant and the successful bidders’ bids only using the evaluation and the award criteria set out in the tender document and on the basis of the sums set out in the respective bidders’ forms of the tender. Even as MPs consider summons, NIB General Manager Mr Gitonga Mugambi notified CWE of its change of heart.

REQUIREMENTS

“Your proposals having attained the highest combined technical and financial evaluation score and substantially responsive to the request for proposals (RFP) requirements, the board has awarded you the tender for funding, design, build and transfer of the Lowaat Dam project,” Mr Mugambi said.

 The details of the works include construction of the dam with the power component and water supply, and irrigation of 25,000 acres in Lokubae, Elelea and Morulem in Turkana. CWE now has 14 days from the date of notification to confirm acceptance of the tender award for the works and services and prepare to sign the contract within 28 days after the contract is approved by attorney general and the National Treasury. PPARB’s other members are Ms Rosemary Gituma, Mr Hussein Were, Mr Nelson Orgut and Paul Ngotho.