Kenya Meat Commission admits being swayed by bidders

When the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) management decided to tender for construction of a new factory without being guided by any feasibility study, they were following the advice of bidders, it has emerged.

The management of the troubled State Corporation admitted before the National Assembly's Public Investment Committee (PIC) that it changed its initial plans to modernise its current factory, which is near obsolete, on the advice of bidders.

KMC Managing Commissioner James Tendwa said the bidders felt it would be more economical to put up a new factory instead of modernising the existing one, which has been in operation since the 1950s.

"The bidders are businessmen and their interests are obvious. It is shocking that you could be swayed by the advice of the bidders and change your plans without even conducting a feasibility study on such a project. No wonder there are all these controversies in that tender," said PIC Vice Chairman Kimani Ichung'wa (Kikuyu).

Mr Tendwa told the committee the bidders had indicated that it would cost the Corporation in excess of Sh3 billion to modernise the old factory, while it is only taking them Sh1.1 billion to construct a new one.

"All the bidders told us it was not making sense to modernise the old factory, instead urging us to put up a new one. It was from this advice that we tendered for both refurbishing the old one and a separate tender for putting up a new one," he said, disclosing that only two bidders responded, bidding to modernise, while four bade for a new factory.

Tendwa said they received a report from the Kenya School of Government that proposed, among other things, restructuring to bring down the workforce from the current 460 to 300.