The ministry’s head of procurement management Service Dr. Kaaria was at pains to convince the board as to why Simba Colt’s tender was declared nonresponsive. The board ruled that the purported contract between the ministry and Isuzu East Africa was irregularly entered into during the standstill period
By The Weekly Vision
Members of a tender committee in the Ministry of Education were left red-faced after the tender they awarded to Isuzu Kenya was cancelled by the Public Procurement Review Board. In a ruling dated 14th July 2023, the board dismissed the contract signed between Isuzu East Africa and the Ministry of Education in respect of tender No.MOE/SDBE/RT/04/2022-2023 for supply and delivery of motor vehicles.
The ruling reads in part “the signing of tender No.MOE/SDBE/RT/04/2022-2023 for supply and delivery of motor vehicles witnessed on 16th June 2023 and the purchase order No. 2758 dated 8th June 2023 be and are hereby declared null and void and set aside”. Simba Corporation Ltd filed an appeal claiming that the process was fraudulent and should be dismissed. Records available indicate that 5 firms sent their bids where Isuzu East Africa was awarded the tender for allegedly being the lowest bidder at Ksh. 864m. Other firms were Simba Colt Motors, Crown Motors Ltd, CFAO Motors Kenya Ltd, and Urysia Ltd.
The tender committee later declared that three firms, including Simba Colt Motors, were unresponsive and disqualified. Simba Cold however claimed that it met all the tender requirements but was fraudulently disqualified as nonresponsive because the tender committee was serving some interests.
The board found out that Simba Colt’s tender was the lowest at Ksh. 786m compared to Isuzu East African tender of Ksh. 864m. The board dismissed a claim that Simba Colt did not attach a list of spare parts and the source of the spare parts. They were allegedly disqualified after the tender committee introduced new requirements ostensibly to lock them out.
However, the ministry’s Head of procurement management Service Dr. Kaaria was at pains to convince the board as to why Simba Colt’s tender was declared nonresponsive. The board ruled that the purported contract between the ministry and Isuzu East Africa was irregularly entered into during the standstill period.
The board, therefore, ordered the tender committee to be re-admitted alongside other tenderers for evaluation at the technical evaluation stage and that the ministry complete the procurement process to its logical conclusion within 14 days from the date of this ruling (14th July 2023).
