By The Weekly Vision
The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board has nullified the tender awarded by the Kenya Pipeline Retirement Benefits Scheme. In a ruling dated 15th June 2023, the Board nullified the tender which had been awarded to a company believed to have bribed tender committee members and top officials. The Scheme had invited bids for Tender No. KPCRBS/PROC/012/2022/2023 for Provision of Property Management Services by way of an advertisement on 10th March 2023 on their website www.kpcrbs.com.
The subject tender submission deadline was Friday, 24th March 2023 at 10.00 am and a total of 7 tenderers were recorded as having submitted their respective proposals. The companies are Firmus Realtors, Legend Management Limited, Kiragu & Mwangi, Zone One Technology, Alliance Realtors Limited, Ebony Estates Limited and Advent Valuers Limited.
At the end of the first evaluation, 2 tenders were found to be non-responsive while 5 tenders included Legend Management Limited and Alliance Realtors Limited. Only the responsive tenders proceeded for evaluation at the Technical Evaluation Stage. At the end of the evaluation stage, 2 tenders were found to be nonresponsive while 3 Proposals including Legend Management Limited and Alliance Realtors Limited were found to be responsive having surpassed the 70% marks in the overall evaluation.
When Evaluation Committee opened the financial proposals on 28th April 2023, all the 3 responsive tenders at the Technical Stage had submitted identical bids for 2.9% Property Management fees and 4.35% Letting Fee. Accordingly, all the 3 tenders scored 30% marks in financial evaluation. The Evaluation Committee found that the combined Alliance Realtors Limited Technical and Financial scores were the lowest evaluated tender and therefore recommended the award of the subject tender to the firm at its tender cost of 2.9% Management fee and 4.35% letting fee.
However, Kenya Pipeline Retirement Benefits Scheme did not submit a Professional Opinion as part of the confidential documents in the subject tender. Notification to Tenderers was notified of the outcome of the evaluation of the subject proposal vide Notification of Intention to Award letters dated and signed on 12th May 2023.
However, Legend Management Limited filed a Request for Review dated 15th May 2023 and an Affidavit in support of the Request for Review sworn on 26th May 2023 by Geoffrey Koros, seeking an order annulling and setting aside the Procuring Entity’s decision in awarding Tender Number KPCRBS/PROC/012/2022/2023 to the alleged successful bidder.
Legend Management Limited submitted that they were invited to submit a financial bid for opening on 18th April 2023 and that it complied in submitting the bid but later received a regret letter dated 12th May 2023 citing that its tender was unsuccessful. According to the letter, the Applicant was unsuccessful because its combined technical and financial score was not competitive.
In the submissions, Legend Management Limited claimed that Alliance Realtors Limited’s tender should not have made it to the Technical Evaluation Stage of the evaluation process as the tender was unresponsive at the Preliminary Stage since it failed to submit 2 additional copies of their submitted tender document; their tender document was not serialized and that it did not submit its Technical and Financial Proposals separately contrary to the requirements under the Tender Document.
The Board observed that in the foregoing paragraphs, the Tender Opening Notes countersigned by the Tender Opening Committee bear out that the Alliance Realtors Limited tender was not serialized contrary to the requirements under the Tender Document. The ruling reads in part “We remain alive to the fact that serialization of tenders is a mandatory requirement that applies even in instances when the tender document does not make provisions for it since it is already provided for in law”
The Board further noted “In light of the foregoing, it becomes apparent to this court that the aspect of serialization of each and every page of a bid document aims to promote fairness, equal treatment, good governance, transparency, accountability and to do away with discrimination”. The final orders read “In exercise of the powers conferred upon it by Section 173 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, No. 33 of 2015, the Board makes the following orders, the Letter of Notification of Intention to Award to the successful tenderer dated 12th May 2023 with respect of Tender No. KPCRBS/PROC/012/2022/2023 for the Procurement of Property Management Services, be and is hereby nullified and set aside”.
The Board further ordered that “The Letters of Notification of Intention to Award to the unsuccessful tenderers dated 12th May 2023 with respect to Tender No. KPCRBS/PROC/012/2022/2023 for the Procurement of Property Management Services, be and is hereby nullified and set aside”.
