Two Chinese firms have been embroiled in a vicious legal battle over a Sh20 billion dam project along the River Nyando in Kisumu County.
China Gezhouba, one of the firms that had been eyeing the contract, has moved to the procurement review board to contest the award of the tender to China Jiangxi Economic Cooperation. China Jiangxi was selected and awarded the project contract by National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority in April.
They were tasked to construct the dam at Sh 19.9 billion. However, China Gezhouba contested the award before the Public Procurement Administration Review Board (PPARB) arguing, among other grounds, that it had bid at a lower cost of Sh19.2 billion.
Losing bid
According to National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority, China Gezhouba which was among the four that bid for the job, failed to meet all the requirements hence losing the bid. These included submission of documents whose translation to English language had not been certified and lack of a commitment to buy at least 40% of the supplies to be used in the construction of the dam from local firms.
The authority also said China Gezhouba failed to demonstrate capacity through proof of ownership of earthmovers and other equipment as well as evidence that it has permanent residency. The bid was thus declared non-responsive and did not proceed to the next stage of technical and financial evaluation
China Gezhouba, refuted the claims, and said it had complied with all the requirements set out by the water authority in the tender documents. In its filings at the PPARB, the company wants the board to direct the Water authority to evaluate the bids afresh, this time round taking into consideration the documents it had submitted.
“The reason provided by the procuring entity… are incorrect and misleading arrived at by misapprehending the tender document submitted by the applicant. The award of the tender to the second respondent (China Jiangxi) did not meet the constitutional threshold of fairness, equity, transparency and competitiveness… neither was it in compliance with the principles set out in Section three of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act,” said China Gezhouba in its filing.
