KeNHA questioned over single-sourcing of Sh500 million road project

KeNHA director-general, Peter Mundinia

MPs questioned why a State agency handpicked a contractor for the construction of 18-kilometre road that cost taxpayers Sh160 million above the initial contractual sum.

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) director-general, Peter Mundinia, was pressed to explain why the agency decided to single-source S S Mehta Construction Company to complete the Miritini-Mombasa road after terminating the contract awarded to Ms Telewa Construction Company.

National Assembly

KeNHA, the Public Investments Committee of the National Assembly noted, ended up paying Sh500 million for the 18-kilometre road, when the initial company had been contracted to undertake the work for Sh341 million.

But it was the decision to pick S S Mehta to undertake the work without subjecting the contract to competitive bidding that came back to haunt the authority bosses who appeared yesterday before the committee.

The PIC chairman, Abdulswammad Nassir, dismissed the defence by Mundinia that there was urgency to complete the work, hence the decision to pick S S Mehta, terming the response as falling below the threshold set in the law for instances when a company can opt for single-sourcing.

“KeNHA violated the law in opting for single tendering yet the situation was not urgent and the contractor was not the only one with the expertise to undertake the work. The committee will get to the bottom of this matter to ensure that public interest was put into consideration and no taxpayers' money was misappropriated,” Nassir said.