Local contractors have criticised the Kenya Rural Roads Authority for cancelling multibillion-shilling tenders for several road projects in Nyeri.
Kerra terminated the procurement through a letter dated August 9, claiming that there were no qualified tenders.
The contractors say the cancellation is meant to favour foreign companies and delay the commencement of the projects.
The Sh3 billion project for upgrading roads to bitumen standards are in Tetu, Mukurwe-ini and Othaya constituencies.
The initial tender closing date was May 15, but five addendums were issued pushing it to June 12, according to documents obtained by the Star.
The tenders had initially been reserved for local contractors as advertised but sources claim foreign companies lobbied to be included.
At the tender opening, 87 companies both local and foreign participated in the bidding.
Among the foreign companies were Stecol Corporation Limited, China Wu Yi, Shengli Engineering Corporation, Guangxi Hydro Electrical, China Railway No.10.
Local contractors included S.S. Mehta & Sons, Roben Aberdare (K) Ltd, Kabuito Contractors, Petwa Construction and Njuca Consolidated.
“Pursuant to the provision of clause 63(1) (e) of the public procurement and asset disposal Act (PPADA) 2015, the procurement process has been terminated because there was no qualified bidder.
"Further, you altered the bill of quantities in item 17-12 of appendix A by introducing a value of 200 kgs, the bid document had provided zero for the same,” the Kerra statement read in part.
Roads in Kisii and Nakuru that were in the same advertisement were however not affected.
“Some of the companies that participated are currently undertaking multi-billion projects elsewhere. How were they non-responsive?” asked a local contractor.
Several companies have filed petitions with the public procurement appeals review board citing frivolous and vexatious grounds for terminating the tenders.
“There is a huge attempt to ensure that the local contractors do not get these jobs,” another contractor said.
The local Roads and Civil Engineering Contractors Association has petitioned the CS Infrastructure, the Attorney General and Public Procurement Authority to investigate the matter.
“The cancellation came as shock to us. This means that it will take another six months for the works to be awarded and will certainly delay the road projects," an engineer privy to authority operations said.
Local contractors said they were being sidelined in favour of foreign contractors.
The local contractors are also furious at what they claim is a blatant disregard of laws by foreign firms.
The contractors said foreign firms should subcontract at least 30 per cent of the value of the contract to local ones to pass technical skills to them. But this is not the case.
