Politics and policy
Leader of Majority Aden Duale. FILE
Nation Media Group
By EDWIN MUTAI
In Summary
- The government, through the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination, awarded the firm a Sh14.9 billion tender to install a surveillance, communication, command and control system for the National Police Service.
Telecoms operator Safaricom
will have to sub-contract part of its Sh15 billion tender for
installation of security surveillance system in Nairobi and Mombasa to
local firms if Parliament approves amendments to the report that cleared
it.
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The changes require the telco to award 30 to 40 per cent of
the contract sum to local contractors. Leader of Majority Aden Duale
said that allocating a portion of the contract to local firms would
ensure job creation, transfer of knowledge and skills and development of
ICT cottage industries.
“We have seen people come from outside this country
and take up jobs that would otherwise be done by professionals working
in various local companies. This is against the procurement laws,” he
said at his office on Friday.
Safaricom is a Kenyan company but 40 per cent of
its shares are held by UK firm Vodafone. The government, through the
Ministry of Interior and National Coordination, awarded the firm a
Sh14.9 billion tender to install a surveillance, communication, command
and control system for the National Police Service.
The tender includes the installation of CCTV
cameras and radio communication equipment that will be linked to
computers to analyse faces and other data that help police to identify
and track down criminals. Out of the total cost of Sh14.9 billion,
Sh12.7 billion is earmarked for system construction, while Sh2.2 billion
will go into maintenance and support for a period of five years.
Mr Duale, however, plans to amend the report
prepared by the Administration and National Security committee to cover
all the 47 counties as opposed to Mombasa and Nairobi alone.
To link the rest of the 47 counties, taxpayers will have to cough up a further Sh21 billion.
To link the rest of the 47 counties, taxpayers will have to cough up a further Sh21 billion.
“We are suffering insecurity across the country,
not just Nairobi and Mombasa alone. We want this project to have a bias
for terrorist-prone counties of Wajir, Garissa, Mandera, Eldoret,
Kisumu, Machakos and Embu,” he said.
The parliamentary Administration and National
Security Committee chaired by Tiaty MP Asman Kamama cleared the deal for
contract signing between the Interior ministry and Safaricom.
The committee, which launched investigations into
the procurement process of the tender, concluded in a report tabled in
the House on Thursday that the proposed communication and surveillance
system “would greatly help security agencies face up to the rising wave
of security challenges in the country”.
In its report, the committee ruled out any mischief
in the choice of Safaricom, saying that East Africa’s largest telecoms
firm has the requisite financial capability and experience in the field
of telecommunication networks and infrastructure building.
The MPs said that they did not find anything wrong
with the ministry procuring the contract directly, adding security of
citizens and the country “should never be compromised or negotiated”.
“The committee recommends that the House approves the tender award and a
contract signed with Safaricom for the provision of a national
surveillance, communication, and command and control system for the
National Police Service,” the report says.
The inquiry team launched investigation into the
direct award of the tender to Safaricom and stopped the signing of the
contract after a number of MPs raised concern over the deal awarded
through direct procurement as opposed to competitive or restricted
tendering.
emutai@ke.nationmedia.com
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