Ksh12 Billion Car Tender Previously Awarded To Toyota Cancelled

The government has been forced to cancel the Ksh12.5 billion police car tender that had been previously awarded to Toyota Kenya for the lease of 1290 vehicles.

The tender had been announced in May 2019, a month after top government fell out with CMC Motors, the company that had allegedly won the tender.

The Ministry of Security and Interior Affairs later cancelled the advert in September after claims that all the bidders had overpriced quotations.

However, it was reported that the tender had been awarded to Toyota Kenya through the back door, prompting one of the bidders, CMC Motors, to launch a complaint accusing PS Karanja Kibicho of corruption.

Read: PS Kibicho On The Spot Over Sh12 Billion Cop Cars Tender

Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB)  dismissed CMC’s complaint, prompting them to move to the high court. While in court, the tender was re-advertised and awarded to Toyota on October 1, 2019.

This transpired between September 18, 2019 and October 1, 2019, where the ministry applied restrictive tendering process.

However, Justice John Mativo ruled that the process was done before the lapse of 14 days after the PRAB decision as required by the law.

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“The Ministry of Interior cannot enter into a valid contract before expiry of 14 days after the decision of the review board nor can it re-advertise the same procurement before the expiry of the 14 days, as it happened in this case. It follows that the purported re-advertisement and the alleged notification of the successful party or purported awarding of the tender by the ministry is illegal,” ruled Mativo.

In the litigation, the judge ruled that the defence did not provide documents to prove legality of the award of the tender.

“No documents were exhibited to support the averment nor was the alleged successful bidders disclosed or enjoined in the proceedings,” he stated.

The advertisement of the tender has now been moved to the National Treasury, with the current lease contract being extended until further notice after it expired October 15, 2019.

The tender has Lots 1 to 8, divided into various vehicle models.

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