NAIROBI, Kenya – The State Department for Housing and Urban Development has come under scrutiny following a recent review by the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) regarding the Sh2.1 billion Loitoktok affordable housing tender.
The review found that the department had failed to ensure fairness and transparency during the procurement process, raising concerns over its handling of the bidding procedure.
The tender, which is for the construction of 1,000 affordable housing units in Loitoktok, Kajiado County, was awarded to Jasir Contractors Limited, despite significant issues with their bid documents.
The board’s findings revealed that Jasir’s bid contained multiple errors, alterations, and inconsistencies, yet the company was still selected as the successful bidder.
In contrast, Jijenge Precast & Construction Limited, a competitor, was disqualified for similar discrepancies in its bid documents.
According to the board, the evaluation committee disqualified Jijenge due to modifications and inconsistencies in the Bill of Quantities (BoQ) but overlooked similar issues in Jasir’s submission.
The board criticized the procurement team for failing to justify why Jasir’s bid, which had glaring alterations and inconsistencies, was deemed acceptable while Jijenge’s was rejected for less severe issues.
“The tender evaluation committee disqualified Jijenge based on modifications and inconsistencies in the BoQ, yet the successful bidder exhibited multiple discrepancies,” the board noted.
The review board has now ordered the cancellation of the intended contract award to Jasir and instructed the State Department to re-evaluate Jijenge’s bid, considering the board’s findings.
The re-evaluation is required to be completed within 21 days.
Jijenge, whose bid was Sh60 million higher than Jasir’s, argued that their disqualification was unfair given the more serious discrepancies in Jasir’s documents.
In its defense, the State Department claimed it had adhered strictly to the evaluation criteria outlined in the tender documents.
It maintained that Jijenge’s disqualification was justified due to non-compliance with the requirement for a complete and unaltered BoQ.
However, the board found that Jasir’s bid included inconsistencies in rate uniformity and alterations to the BoQ, with some rates differing across pages for the same line items, which violated the financial evaluation requirements.
The board’s ruling further noted that these issues were not adequately addressed or explained by the evaluation committee.
The department has now been directed to carry out a fresh financial evaluation of Jijenge’s bid before proceeding with the award process, which will be closely watched for transparency and fairness in the coming weeks.
