Punish NSSF officials over Sh6.7b tender, PPOA urges

NAIROBI: The Public Procurement and Oversight Authority (PPOA) Director General Maurice Juma wants National Social Security Fund (NSSF) officials who irregularly procured and signed the contentious Sh6.7 billion tender for Hazina Trading Centre held to account.

Juma said the tendering for the works was flawed and condemned the manner it was processed and signed.

He said those behind the flawed process should not be allowed to go Scot-free on grounds that the contract was never challenged. He said he advised the NSSF board's legal advisor to look at what they could do on the matter.

Juma told the National Assembly's Public Investment Committee that the tendering for the project was grossly flawed and against procurement laws and recommended that those who took part in the tendering and signing of the contract be held to account.

Juma raised five issues on why the tender was flawed, key among them that a financial evaluation was not done by the tender committee.

The director general further said two companies that had placed their bids, China WuYi and China Railways, were considered yet they never submitted their certificates of incorporation as required by procurement laws.

NSSF, he added, never sought correction of an arithmetic error of Sh155 million, realised in the bid by China Jianxi, before awarding the company the tender.