- The deal was awarded to Isolux Ingenieria SA which scored 59 per cent denying Elecnor which scored 75 per cent.
- Wamukota said the technical valuation was conducted by Kema - a foreign entity, which was dealing directly with LTWP.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
MPs have cast doubt on whether the law was followed in the tendering of contractors for a transmission line in Loyangalani, Marsabit county.
The transmission line is to evacuate power from the Lake Turkana Wind Power station.
The National Assembly Public Investments Committee said infractions committed by government officials and the LTWP company may have caused taxpayers Sh10 billion for idle power after the line was delayed.
Documents tabled in Parliament reveal that LTWP plant was ready by January 27, 2017 but the transmission interconnector was delayed until 2018.
The original plan was for LTWP to generate the power and feed it on the main electricity grid for Kenya Power to distribute under a Power Purchase Agreement reached with KP in January 2010.
LTWP was to construct a transmission line alongside the wind power plant to avoid cases of idle power generation, the audit conducted by deputy auditor general Fredrick Odhiambo showed.
The other question MPs want to be answered was the motivation behind introducing Ketraco into the privately-owned project, whose feasibility report is yet to be traced.
Queries followed after Kenya Power wired an extra Sh785 million to the Lake Turkana Wind Power company as payments for generated energy.
Part of the money was to be drawn from taxes while Sh9.8 billion was charged on consumers after the contract was revised to adjust the tariffs upwards.
The question by the Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir is how the investor recruited the Spanish firm - Isolux Ingenieria SA, blamed for the delays, to build the line.
The committee said that the move to keep Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) and Kenya Power Limited Company (KPLC) away from the tender was deliberate, and was to set the stage to reap from idle power.
Ketraco acting managing director Antony Wamukota was before Parliament on Thursday to shed light on the events that led to the delays.
“Why did LTWP settle on Isolux Ingenieria SA yet a technical report on valuation placed a Spanish company Elecnor as having more technical capability to build the line?” Nassir asked.
“Why was Ketraco not involved in the entire process yet it is the body that deals with power evacuation?” he added.
Documents tabled in Parliament show that Elecnor scored 75 per cent while Isolux Ingenieria SA got 59 per cent but the investor settled on the latter despite scoring poorly at the technical and financial evaluation stages.
Ketraco terminated the Isolux Ingenieria SA’s contract in August 2017, amid claims of bankruptcy, a time when the Spanish firm had been paid Sh84 million for the work done by then.
The Spanish firm challenged the termination at the High Court but the matter was thrown out in favour of Ketraco.
For his part, Wamukota said the company (Ketraco) did not take part in the selection of Isolux as the contractor for the transmission line (TI-connector).
He said that the technical valuation was conducted by Kema - a foreign entity, which was dealing directly with LTWP.
MPs at the committee said the moves were suspect, and appeared as were a deliberate attempt to rob taxpayers.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)