Challenge to Sh3 billion KEMSA tender thrown out

Public Procurement Oversight Authority Chairman Paul Gicheru ordered the tender to proceed. [Pius Cheruiyot, Standard]

The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board has dismissed a case halting the construction of a warehouse and office block estimated to cost Sh3 billion tender by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).

In the ruling, the board said the tender for the main works awarded to Vaghjiyani Enterprises Ltd followed all the relevant procurement regulations. “The procuring entity is, therefore, at liberty to proceed with the procurement process to the conclusion,” ordered the board headed by Paul Gicheru in its ruling.

The award had been challenged by Epco Builders Ltd, arguing that criteria adopted in the tender evaluation and final tender award was different from the criteria contained in the invitation of tender documents.

The firm claimed it was better qualified in all technical aspects than the successful bidder.

Jilk Construction Company Ltd had also joined the case as an interested party and opposed the tender award to Vaghjiyani.

Epco had been ranked third by Kemsa’s tender evaluation committee after obtaining a combined technical and financial score of 89.1 against 93.8 for the winning bidder.

Vaghjiyani Enterprises had submitted a tender price of Sh3.07 billion compared to EPCO’s Sh3.09 billion. Jilk Construction had quoted Sh3.4 billion.

N K Brothers submitted the lowest bid price of Sh2.9 billion and were ranked eight after scoring lower points in the technical aspects. It did not challenge the award with the board.

Financial score

It’s not yet clear if the aggrieved bidders will appeal to the High Court.

Kemsa, through its lawyer Kenneth Akide, had argued that a combined technical and financial score was computed and the bidder with the highest score was recommended for the award.

Vaghjiyani Enterprises is involved in the construction of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor port headquarters building, National Intelligence Academy, police staff houses, and the one-stop order post at Malaba border crossing among others.

According to the firm’s website, its directors are Ramesh Vaghjiyani, Valji Vaghjiyani and Hiten Vaghjiyani. Kemsa had issued an open international tender and the bids had been invited on 11th November last year.

About 35 firms bid for the main works tender. The tender also included six sub-contract tenders awarded to other firms, including electrical works, plumbing, drainage, cabling, firefighting, cold rooms, among others.

The entire tender was valued at Sh3.38 billion.

The warehouse for storing medicines and medical devices is expected to be one of the largest in the region. It is funded by the Global Fund and the Kenya government.