This archive report was first published on 9 December 2019.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has found itself at the center of a multi-billion shillings tender scandal, with allegations of cartel involvement and favoritism emerging.
According to sources, 16 firms, including leading oil marketing companies such as Shell, Vivo, Total, and Ola, had put in their tenders for the supply of fuel to KPA. However, the current tender is with National Oil, a state-owned parastatal.
Abu Joho, the billionaire brother of Mombasa governor Hassan Joho, has been boasting in public that the tender is already his, with relevant banking institutions fighting to finance it.
Only three firms, which are not oil marketing companies, have qualified the technical evaluation. These firms are Oxford Oils, Danka, and Insignia, all operated by the same cartel but with different directors.
According to a source who is a member of the technical committee evaluating the tenders, the three firms have been evaluated positively and qualified for the next stage of evaluation.
However, the irony of the matter is that these three firms do not have oil marketing licenses as required by the Ministry of Energy, nor do they have the capacity and experience to perform.
The tender was advertised in September this year on the KPA website, with the initial closing date set for October 24, 2019. However, the closing date was postponed twice, first to November 7 and then to November 21, 2019.
