The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has been stopped from terminating a six-month motor vehicle inspection contract with a Chinese firm pending the hearing of a case filed by the company.
High Court judge Josephine Mong’are has also blocked Kebs from enforcing the termination notice issued on September 10 against the World Standardisation Certification and Testing Group (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd in a new Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (P-VoC) tender.
The Chinese firm won a three-year P-VoC contract for inspecting motor vehicles, spare parts and other equipment for conformity with Kenyan standards on May 9, 2022.
The contract was extended by six months, from May 7, 2025, to November 8, 2025.
The firm said it was, however, served with the termination notice two months before the end of the contract.
“The application be mentioned for directions on 15/10/2025,” said the judge.
The company said that it had participated in a new tender to provide the same services for the 2025–2028 contract. It sought a temporary injunction against the termination notice.
The firm argued that the timing of the termination notice was suspicious, as it coincided with pending due diligence and revealed a clear plan by Kebs to make an adverse finding.
The Chinese firm claimed the notice was intended to tarnish its image during the due diligence process for the new tender.
The company further said the notice was issued without sufficient reasons or justification.
“The timing of the termination notice, coupled with the stage of the Tender No. KEBS/PRE-Q/T006/2025/2028 is at, reveals a deliberate scheme by the defendant to damage the plaintiff’s reputation during the due diligence process, aimed at unduly influencing the evaluation committee against the plaintiff,” added the firm.
According to the firm, it complied with all requirements, including a visit by Kebs tender evaluation committee to its facilities in China in August, which culminated in successful due diligence.
Procurement appeal
Meanwhile, the Chinese firm has moved to the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board to challenge a new P-VoC, after it was not pre-qualified by Kebs.
The company has faulted Kebs for failing to pre-qualify it in the tender despite allegedly finding that the firm had met all the requirements for prequalification.
“That the due diligence conducted on the applicant was conducted in bad faith, unfairly, lacking in transparency, and in a manner that is biased against the applicant with calculated precision not to pre-qualify the applicant,” the firm said in the review application.
