Two French-led consortia are locked in a legal battle over a Sh180 billion contract to upgrade Kenya's Nairobi-Nakuru highway, with one group accusing the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) of procedural violations.
The Rift Valley Connect consortium, comprising Vinci Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund, and Vinci Concessions SAS, was named preferred bidder by KeNHA, prompting a formal protest from the rival consortium led by African Infrastructure Investment Fund 3 Partnership (Aiim), Egis, Mota-Engil, and Orascom.
The protesting firms allege the procurement process violated Kenya's 2010 Constitution and procurement guidelines, citing a lack of transparency in evaluation criteria. In a March 8, 2019, letter to the Public Private Partnership Petition Committee, they claimed KeNHA failed to provide justification for excluding their consortium and subjected them to an