By ALEX NDEGWA
The planned land seizures along Mombasa Road that have infuriated investors have further deepened the controversy surrounding the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project.
In 2006, the Government invited international bidders to tender for the 106-kilometre Nairobi Urban Toll Road Concession project. Three parties expressed interest, but Nairobi Motorway Company Ltd is the only one that bid for the project and was subsequently awarded the tender, according to authorities.
But the project, sanctioned by the Cabinet and Parliament more than one year ago, has stalled, grounded by concerns about the possible link between the consortium and a Russian firm the World Bank has blacklisted.
The World Bank, a key financier in the project, has reported the due diligence exercise to assess the compliance mechanisms of the members of the consortium has been completed, and it is currently analysing the results of the compliance review.
Similarly debate in Parliament in 2009 on the sessional paper on the project alongside the concession agreement and tolling regime worth Sh67 billion was not without drama. MPs postponed approval of the documents tabled by Roads Minister Franklin Bett on December 12, 2009 upon an awkward revelation that Government had drawn up the contract with an unregistered firm, Nairobi Motorway Group.
Blank cheque
Surprisingly, Bett admitted that was the case, explaining the firm would seek registration once Parliament approved the concession contract. "Common law dictates you cannot enter into a contract with a company that doesn’t exist," remarked Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo.
As members trooped out of the House some ministers rushed to where the ministry officials sat and one of them remarked: "You should be aware that Parliament can’t grant a blank cheque."
The ministers were surprised Parliament was being asked to approve the deal before the necessary paperwork had been done. The Government salvaged the registration debacle the following day when Bett tabled documents showing Nairobi Motorway Group was not duly registered.
Further revelation the National Assembly was approving an unsigned contract had members remark it was mischievous of Government to obtain Parliament’s rubber stamp for a draft agreement, which could be altered after the approval.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Bonny Khalwale thus moved an amendment, which Bett seconded, to insert ‘proposed’ to the concession agreement so that the once parties signed the deal it is returned to the House for approval.
Khalwale demanded to know the owners of Nairobi Motorway Company, saying the scant information provided showing only addresses of the partnering firms was not enough. Bett told Parliament then the directors are Gerhard Outhowitz and Wolfgang Somapa (Austrians) and Israelis Amid Segev and Yehuda Elmelek.
Backbenchers said the episodes exposed the casualness with which Government conducts business.
