Wamalwa, PS fight in Sh62 billion Kitui dam tender row

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation’s perennial tender wars have erupted once again, promising to derail the Sh62.3 billion multi-purpose Thwake dam in Kitui County.

Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and Irrigation principal secretary Patrick Nduati Mwangi got on a collision path after Mr Mwangi reportedly turned down the minister’s directive to award a contract to a Chinese firm the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) had blacklisted over “integrity issues.”

The PS told a parliamentary committee that the minister had on March 7 written a letter demanding that the multi-billion shilling contract be awarded to China Gezhouba Construction Group Corporation (CGGC) and went ahead three days later to inform AfDB, the financiers of the project.

“I confirm that on March 7, I received a memo from the CS and in response I turned down the instructions because the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Agriculture committee of the National Assembly were investigating the matter,” Mr Mwangi said.

The PS said he had no knowledge of Mr Wamalwa’s letter to the AfDB indicating that China Gezhouba had been awarded the contract after it emerged the lowest responsive bidder.

Mr Mwangi confirmed that China Gezhouba had used the experience of one of its subsidiaries - China Engineering Company Number 1 - which the World Bank and AfDB had blocked from bidding for the Thwake dam contract on ethical grounds.

Parliament is investigating the circumstances under which the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is seeking to award the multi-billion shilling contract to a firm that the WB and the AfDB had debarred from bidding.

Mr Wamalwa last week disclosed that the ministry is at the tail-end of awarding the tender to China Gezhouba, a company the World Bank and AfDB had blacklisted.

Breached audit

It was the same ministry that awarded China Gezhouba the controversial Sh6.8 billion Northern Water Collector Tunnel in Murang’a — which the opposition say breached an environmental audit.

The World Bank blacklisted Gezhouba for procurement irregularities, but did not offer details of the breach.

Mr Wamalwa acknowledged the existence of a problem in procuring the contractor. The losing bidder has also raised integrity issues against the winner.

Another Chinese firm, Sinohydro, contested the ministry’s decision to award the contract to Gezhouba, arguing that it had been debarred from bidding for such jobs.

“There were issues of integrity, which we could not be overlooked and these concerns were raised with AfDB. We were advised that Gezhouba’s debarment was for a particular period, which had elapsed at the time this contract came into being,” Mr Wamalwa said.

“We sought the advice of the Attorney-General after a contest erupted between the two companies. The A-G and AfDB told us to go ahead and award the contract to the lowest bidder as had been recommended by the evaluation committee,” the CS said.

Mr Wamalwa skipped Tuesday’s session and sent Mr Mwangi to represent him in the deliberations.

The committee criticised Mr Wamalwa for writing a protest letter to Parliament accusing MPs of attempting “to block the project.”

'Grave concerns'

“I wish to draw attention to the grave concerns I raised during my appearance before the Agriculture committee on the procedural and legal issues particularly in the manner in which the said committee was seized of this matter and is handling the issue, including issuing directive to PS to stop action on a matter that is still under procurement,” Mr Wamalwa wrote, adding that “the committee cannot direct procurement.”

Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa accused Mr Wamalwa of trying to direct what Parliament does and asked the PS to state whether the House had issued any directive on the procurement.

Committee chairman Mohammed Noor ordered Mr Wamalwa to appear before MPs Thursday to respond to the procurement issues and the letter of protest against committee investigations.