Kenya Power cancelled a tender for the supply of equipment for the Last Mile Connectivity Project to a Nigerian firm on the advice of one of the financiers, it has emerged.
International Engineering Nigeria has sued the utility firm for cancelling its tender for the supply of metres and extend power lines for the project aimed at affordably connecting poor households to the national electricity grid.
According to court papers, African Development Bank (AfDB) advised Kenya Power against the choice of International Engineering, leading to cancellation of the tender.
Under the AfDB phase II of the project, 314,200 households are meant be connected using 5,320 existing distribution transformers across the 47 counties at a cost of Sh13.5 billion.
Tender evaluation
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“The applicants bid for lot three and lot nine were declared successful pursuant to the recommendations of Kenya Power tender evaluation committee dated July 14, 2017,” says International Engineering lawyer Albert Mumma in court papers seen by The Standard.
“However, the respondent disqualified the applicant’s bids for lot three and lot nine purportedly on the basis on the recommendation of the project financier African Development Bank contained in a letter from the Director General of AfDB dated August 28, 2017, addressed to the managing director and CEO of Kenya Power.” The tender was then issued to a joint venture between India’s Bajaj Electricals Ltd and local renting and leasing firm Wayne Homes Kenya Ltd.
