Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has been ordered to carry out a fresh evaluation of a tender for the provision of security services to the institution after it emerged that the winning bidder quoted an amount above the approved budget.
The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board noted that Makini Security Services Ltd had quoted Sh46.9 million for the one-year contract to provide security to the main campus and JKUAT’s satellite campuses, yet the approved budget is Sh45 million.
The board chaired by George Murugu said there was no legal justification to award the tender above the budgetary allocation and in contravention of the provisions of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.
“The procuring entity’s letters of Notification of Award dated July 12, 2023 and addressed to the other tenderers including the Interested Party, Makini Security Services Limited, in respect of Tender No. JKUAT/13/2023-2025 for Provision of Security Services be and are hereby cancelled and set aside,” the board ruled.
The procurement watchdog noted that there was no evidence of whether any competitive negotiations took place because if the said negotiations took place, the correspondence would have formed part of the confidential file submitted to the board.
