The tender was awarded last Friday to Indian firm Olive Telecommunications PVT Ltd, at cost of Sh24.6 billion, with 16 firms having shown interest.
House team wants evidence that due diligence was followed in the tendering.
Parliament has started investigating the tender for supplying 1.3 million laptops for Standard One pupils that was awarded to Olive Communications of India for Sh24.6 billion.
The Education Committee will Wednesday interrogate Education principal secretary Dr Belio Kipsang who was Tuesday turned away to give the committee time to peruse through the documents he presented.
Committee members questioned Mr Kipsang on whether due diligence was carried out on the three firms that tendered and whether the tender requirements were strictly followed.
“I am willing to appear before this committee to provide evidence that the tendering process was flawed. There was a requirement that the bidders should be original equipment manufacturers,” Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa, who appeared as a friend of the committee, said.
Mr Ichung’wa said he had received information in November that there were deliberate attempts to award the tender to Olive.
“After receiving the bids, evaluating them, making offers and conducting competitive negotiations, we were to make a final offer to pave way for due diligence on the winning firm,” Mr Kipsang said.
He added that nine members conducted due diligence on Olive under the leadership of a chief executive officer of a leading ICT firm.
The tender was awarded last Friday to Indian firm Olive Telecommunications PVT Ltd, at cost of Sh24.6 billion, with 16 firms having shown interest.
At that price, the government will spend Sh6 billion more than the revised budget of Sh19 billion for the project, after the lowest bidder quoted Sh32 billion in the initial tendering that was cancelled in November.
The tender includes 20,000 projectors and a similar number of printers.
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