This archive report was first published on 23 October 2019.
Published on October 23, 2019, the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board is expected to give a ruling on the fate of the controversial police cars leasing programme.
President Uhuru Kenyatta waded into the matter last week while launching Toyota Kenya’s new assembly plant at the Associated Vehicle Assemblers in Miritini, Mombasa County.
He said anyone trying to scuttle government policies aimed at creating jobs for Kenyans should know that they are engaging in futile errands.
He emphasized that investors who are interested in winning government tenders, especially in the automotive sector, should get into the business of local assembly or manufacturing.
CMC Motors recently got new orders stopping a procurement process meant to lease 1,290 police vehicles that has been initiated by the Interior ministry.
The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board directed the ministry not to award the tender until the appeal by CMC Motors is heard and determined.
According to sources within the ministry, Isuzu Kenya and CMC Motors have been the front runners in the tender process.
The tender that was awarded in 2015 was closed on Tuesday, October 15, and is now operating on an indefinite extension period.
CMC Motors stated in its application to the review board that the ministry had defied High Court orders stopping the new tender process and had employed restricted tendering, thereby flouting the Procurement Act.
CMC Motors further argued that the specific requirements relating to the items under procurement did not allow for fair and open competition and were discriminatory since only local assemblers were in a position to win the new tender.
