‘Disappointed’ legislators to make their stand on laptops tender known

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

Nairobi, Kenya: Members of Parliament will Wednesday make known their stand on the 1.2 million laptops tender award when education PS Bellio Kipsang presents the final report of the procurement process.

The PS will face the MPs Wednesday at 3pm to “set the record straight” after the ministry awarded the tender to Olive Telecommunications before critical questions raised by the Education committee had been answered.

“I want to start by registering my disappointment on behalf of the committee because the tender award was done before our questions on due diligence were complete,” said Sabina Chege, chairperson of the House committee on Education, Science and Technology.

She said MPs were unhappy with the manner in which the ministry conducted the tendering process and noted that implementation of the multibillion project may not succeed if the process is not supported by MPs.

“How will I defend a project that is not transparent when the sittings begin in Parliament? It is important that the questions raised by my committee are answered,” said Ms Chege.

Efforts by Dr Kipsang to take the MPs through the tendering process flopped after Manyatta MP Njagagua Muruiki accused the ministry of mischief and asked for adjournment until all the committee members received the full report.

Only 15 copies of the tendering report were made available to the committee against a membership of 29. “If they can shortchange us on paperwork, then how much more can they shortchange us on the laptops?” posed Njagagua.

He added: “It is a high time we stamp our authority so that we are taken seriously. We requested for these documents to be sent to us early so that we can read and comprehend before we make any decision.”