The row pits the governor against the CBK tender committee over a move to award the tender to Horsebridge Networks Systems E. A. Limited to installan integrated security management system at the bank’s headquarters and branches countrywide.
The tender committee chaired by Deputy Governor Harun Sirma had nullified a decision to award the tender to Horsebridge by the technical evaluation team after detecting errors in the tender documents, setting off a series of activities that saw the matter end up at the Public Procurement Oversight Authority.
Horsebridge petitioned the Public Procurement and Administrative Review Board saying they had won the tender as the lowest bidder.
According to correspondence seen by the Sunday Nation, the tender documents were riddled with errors which Dr Sirma’s committee felt could have compromised the outcome. Moreover, due diligence on the six bidders was not done before evaluation as is normal practice.
“The technical capability to install and maintain the ISMS as quoted was poorly crafted and was not used well by the evaluation team. Evaluation criteria revealed inconsistencies among the individual scores,” state the minutes of the tender committee.
Horsebridge, an international company with a presence in Kenya, petitioned the Public Procurement Board, who “awarded’ them the tender and dismissed CBK and the tender committee as a “wild horse who should be calmed”.
“In view of the foregoing, the board holds that the procuring entity and specifically the tender committee is behaving like an unruly horse and it has to be tamed and calmed ... The board orders that this tender be and is hereby awarded to the lowest evaluated bidder Horsebridge Networks Systems,” stated Mr Mwaniki Gachora.
Prof Ndung’u agreed with the Public Procurement Review Board’s decision, although the bank’s lawyer, Mr Fred Ngatia, had advised him to appeal and challenge the board’s decision at the High Court.
In addition to Horsebridge, five other companies were evaluated for the contract. They are Orad Limited, Azicon Kenya Limited, Engineered Systems Solutions Limited, Indra Limited and Aua Industria.
It was the second time the tender committee rejected results of the bank’s evaluation committee chaired by P.K. Wanyagi.
According to internal CBK documents, Prof Ndung’u sought Mr Ngatia’s advice on February 26, 2013 after the matter reached the appeals board. In his letter to the governor, the lawyer said:
“We are unable to recommend that you proceed to award the tender given the litany of misdeeds which are fully documented regarding the tendering process. Indeed the situation dictates that the tender be advertised afresh and perhaps new guideline considered.”
Mr Ngatia told Prof Ndung’u that allowing the decision to pass would set a bad precedent in future.
“The board proceeded to award the tender to a particular bidder. To allow such mischief to reign unchallenged would be most injurious to yourselves and all other public entities in that the board might now start to award tenders to all and sundry oblivious that the statutory power to award the tenders is vested upon the procuring entity and to the exclusion of all other entities,” Mr Ngatia said.
CBK awarded the contract to Horsebridge through a letter of notification on February 24, 2013. This was after the 14-day window to appeal the board’s decision had closed. Since then, Horsebridge has not signed a contract.
It is understood that the tender committee has resisted attempts to have them okay the award to Horsebridge, occasioning the current standoff with the governor.
A top manager who Prof Ndung’u authorised to speak to the Sunday Nation on Friday defended the governor’s position on the matter and accused unnamed individuals within CBK of attempting to bring down the governor.
He said there was no reason to challenge the ruling by the Public Procurement Review Board. “CBK has never been the aggrieved party here. How do we appeal against PPOA, which is a government agency? Who will PPOA be taking to court? Another government agency?” asked the aide.
The aide claimed that the tender committee drafted an appeal of the board’s decision which Prof Ndung’u refused to sign.
“These people wanted to use the governor to cleanse themselves in the event of an investigation,” said the aide.
“The governor does not want to take sides between two CBK committees and the review board. He knows that he is clean and innocent. If you are clean, why fear? That is why he is waiting for due process before he signs the contract,” said the manager.
In a letter to the CBK Director of Department of Estates dated April 25, 2013, Horsebridge Business Development Manager Phillip Kago asked why CBK has not prepared the contract despite confirmation that they won the tender.
“Despite the said agreement, you have not forwarded the contract for signing as agreed 23 days after completion of contract negotiation,” he said.
Mr Kago had not responded to our queries by the time we went to press.
In the meantime, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has opened an investigation into the issue. A letter to Prof Ndung’u dated April 11 from the EACC’s John Lolkoloi demands all documents related to the tender process.
“Our officers Messrs Alex Kinyanjui, Tom Mboya and Arthur Opili will be available to collect the documents,” Mr Lolkoloi said in the letter to CBK.
According to documents, the tender was advertised in July 2012. The tender covers CBK headquarters in Nairobi and its satellite offices in Nyeri, Kisumu, Nakuru, Meru, Kenya School of Monetary Studies and Marshal House.
The tender was prompted by theft of currency by staff members, a risk CBK is still exposed to due to their outdated security equipment.
The tender included CCTV cameras and a vehicle number plate recognition system that detects firearms or gunpowder in cars or humans without having to frisk visitors and check cars.
- Sunday Nation
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