KR to award Sh150bn Naivasha rail tender without public bidding
A section of the Standard Gauge Railway running through Makueni County. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Construction of the rail is set to start in October. It is the extension of the Mombasa-Nairobi line which is 80 per cent complete and will cost between Sh327 billion and Sh447.5 billion when financing charges are included.
Kenya Railways will award a tender to supervise construction of the planned Sh150 billion Nairobi-Naivasha railway line without public bidding.
The firm will Wednesday issue a notice seeking to single source a consultant who will supervise the Chinese contractor in charge of building the 120-kilometre Naivasha rail.
Construction of the rail is set to start in October. It is the extension of the Mombasa-Nairobi line which is 80 per cent complete and will cost between Sh327 billion and Sh447.5 billion when financing charges are included.
“In accordance with section 124 (14) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015, Kenya Railways hereby issues a notice of intention to single source for the procurement of the consultant and invites anyone who wishes to bid to do so,” reads the notice.
The award of the Mombasa-Nairobi contract to China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) sparked widespread criticism over the transparency of the process.
The government acknowledged that there was no public bidding, which it said was a condition of Chinese loans to help fund construction. Some legislators complained that the contract was overpriced.
Kenya Railways awarded the tender for supervision of the Mombasa-Nairobi line to Chinese firm TSDI, which entered into a consortium with local companies EDON and APEC, at a cost of $42 million (Sh4.2 billion).
The award of the contract was also termed suspect. China Communication and Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) bagged the award to construct the Naivasha line.
The rail will link special industrial zones to be established in Naivasha, Nairobi and Mombasa.
Naivasha is home to the Olkaria geothermal power plants. The government plans to offer subsidised power tariffs to attract manufacturers to establish industries in special zones near Olkaria geothermal fields.
Firms will also have power connected directly from Olkaria to ensure uninterrupted supply while apparel companies will access direct steam. “Nairobi-Naivasha SGR (standard gauge railway) is a natural continuation of the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR as it is being constructed to the same standards of the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR,” Kenya Railways says.
“There is therefore need for standardisation and compatibility of the equipment, technology and services provided in phase 1 Mombasa-Nairobi,” it adds, in justifying of single sourcing the consultant.
In April, Kenya awarded China another sweetheart deal after agreeing to have a Chinese company operate business on the Mombasa-Nairobi line without public bidding. Rift Valley Railway (RVR) currently operates the Kenya-Uganda railway and is expected to face competition from the new railway.
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