Tender wars stall Jubilee’s Huduma pay cards contract

Residents access Internet services at a Huduma Kenya centre in Nyeri town. PHOTO | FILE 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO, aodhiambo@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The procurement of the service was last week thrown off the rails after the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) nullified Equity Bank’s contract and ordered a fresh round of bidding.
• The review board came to the conclusion after it looked into a litany of complaints by the losing bidders, including the sudden change of venue by the procuring entity, the Ministry of Planning and Devolution.

Tendering irregularities have once again sparked a fierce dogfight among some of Kenya’s biggest corporations that is now threatening to stall yet another of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s flagship projects.

National Bank of Kenya, one of the unsuccessful bidders, has successfully challenged the award of the multi-billion shilling contract to supply an electronic payment system for public services — offered through the Huduma centres — casting a dark cloud over the process.

The procurement of the service was last week thrown off the rails after the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) nullified Equity Bank’s contract and ordered a fresh round of bidding.

“The board directs the procuring entity to commence the process afresh,” the PRARB said in a ruling that is set to delay the roll-out of the scheme.

The review board came to the conclusion after it looked into a litany of complaints by the losing bidders, including the sudden change of venue by the procuring entity, the Ministry of Planning and Devolution.

The battle for the tender arose from the government’s invitation in September 2014 of bids to develop innovative solutions, systems and platforms for registration and issuance of special cards to facilitate cashless transactions for public services.

The bids were received and opened on September 16, 2014 having attracted 11 interests, including Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, I&A Capital and Commercial (K) Limited, National Bank of Kenya (NBK), Web Tribe Limited, Safaricom Business, Jamii Bora Bank, Cooperative Bank of Kenya, Equity Bank, Attain Enterprise Solutions Limited and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).

On October 10, 2014, a tender evaluation committee gave CBA, NBK, Equity Bank and KCB the green light to proceed to the next round of bidding.

The quartet was issued with a Request for Proposal (RFP) on October 29, 2014 with November 10, 2014 as the deadline for submission of bids.

But in a surprise twist that triggered an all-out tender war, only Equity Bank managed to hand in its technical and financial bid by 10 a.m. on November 10, 2014 as required.

NBK lodged a complaint with the PRARB on November 21, 2014 seeking nullification of what it saw as a flawed process.

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Tender documents show that the bidders had been asked to deposit their proposals on the 8th Floor of Harambee House in Nairobi.

But as the rival bidders soon realised, what should have been an ordinary exercise — depositing documents at a designated location — became an endless game of moving goal posts, with numerous changes in the venue.

NBK says in its petition that it was forced into a cat and mouse chase with the ministry’s tender team that ended in its disqualification from the tender.