I'm not to blame for security tender mess, says Treasury CS Henry Rotich

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.

Nairobi, Kenya: Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has said he is not responsible for the manner in which procurement for the Sh14.9 billion security surveillance system tender was done.

Rotich said Interior CS Joseph ole Lenku should answer procurement queries that could arise on the tender award to mobile service provider, Safaricom.

"The procurement has been managed by the Interior ministry. We only provide resources to finance the project. The Interior ministry knows what they need to do within the law. We are not always checking to see where they have reached with the process," he told the House Committee on National Security.

The tender, which was awarded to Safaricom through single sourcing, has raised a storm, but Rotich explained that the Interior ministry was at liberty to choose any procurement method in line with the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) regulations.

"The role of the ministry is to ensure we fund ministries. It is upon the ministries to ensure that whatever method they use is within the law. The law gives PPOA 14 days within which to consider if there has been any misprocurement," he said.

Rotich said he was unaware of any possible rise in the project cost in future and disputed an assertion that Safaricom would be charging an extra 11 per cent as cost of capital.

His responses prompted Kandara MP Alice Wahome to caution him that he risked being held responsible for any procurement queries that may arise out of the project.

She noted past Finance ministers had been hounded out of office for mistakes committed under their watch.

"In the past, ministers, including Mwiraria (David), have suffered even when they were not the procuring entities," she said.

Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda) expressed concern that the CS and Safaricom appeared to be reading from different scripts with regard to the cost of the project, and Rotich was shirking responsibility. He demanded to know the impact of the cost of capital on the project.

"Safaricom was categorical it will charge on the cost of capital. When it looks like it is not your issue per se, there is reason to worry," Gumbo told the CS.

Rotich said documentation received by his ministry indicated the project will cost Sh18.8 billion, inclusive of value added tax and excise duty. He assured the House team that all emerging issues will be ironed out before signing of the project.