The battle for control of the lucrative tender for inspection of goods destined for Kenya has shifted to Parliament after playing out in the corridors of justice for years.
The multibillion-shilling contract for pre-export verification of conformity to standards has long been dogged by controversy, with firms frequently protesting the tendering process.
In January, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) invited bids for the 2025–2028 pre-export verification tender, which attracted 19 companies.
The winning firm is required to inspect goods before export to Kenya. The products are supposed to be safe, of high quality, environmentally compliant, and in line with Kenyan standards.
The first challenge came from Precision Experts Ltd, which accused Kebs of discriminating against local firms by introducing hurdles that allegedly locked them out despite their capacity to do the job. The case went all the way to the Court of Appeal but was dismissed, giving Kebs the go-ahead to complete the tendering process.
While dismissing the case, the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board ruled that a procuring entity has the discretion to tailor its bid documents according to its needs. However, the discretion is not absolute.
Soon after, three other firms — TUV Austria Turk, TIC Quality Control, and Bay Area Compliance Laboratories Corp — lodged fresh complaints. They argued that although anomalies had been flagged under procurement law, both the review board and the courts failed to address them.
Roadworthiness certificate
These challenges were also dismissed, clearing the way for Kebs to award the tender to Quality Inspection Services Inc. Japan (QISJ).
Last week, however, Togo Motors Ltd challenged a new Kebs directive requiring importers of used vehicles without a roadworthiness certificate to submit a mandatory validation document to QISJ at an additional cost of Sh12,000.
The trader said that the July 8 notice was issued without public participation or transparency in QISJ’s procurement, raising questions of legality, reasonableness, and compliance with the law. The matter will be mentioned in court on October 21.
Meanwhile, Parliament has waded into the controversy. MPs in the Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Committee are demanding answers from the Ministry of Trade, Kebs, and the Kenya Accreditation Service.
Although the pre-export verification covers multiple goods, motor vehicle inspection has drawn particular scrutiny.
Kebs acting Managing Director Esther Ngari during a past appearence before a parliamentary committee.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
For years, a single provider handled motor vehicle pre-shipment inspections for Kebs until 2020 when two other firms were brought on board.
According to the Economic Survey 2024, 119,205 vehicles were registered in Kenya that year, of which 78,127 (66 per cent) were used imports.
The National Assembly Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Committee, chaired by Mr Bernard Shinali (Shinyalu MP), has raised the alarm that accident-damaged vehicles are still being shipped in Kenya and sold to unsuspecting buyers, despite billions of shillings being spent on pre-inspection services.
To get to the bottom of the matter, the committee has summoned Industry Principal Secretary Dr Juma Mukhwana, Kebs Managing Director Esther Ngari, and Kenya Accreditation Service Chief Executive Officer Dr Walter Ongeti.
“In exercise of its mandate to review the performance of departments and agencies under its oversight, the committee has resolved to invite you to the meeting to apprise it of the issues,” the letter reads in part.
Kebs records tabled before Parliament show it takes an average of four days to inspect a car and two more days to issue a certificate of roadworthiness. Between 2015 and 2019, Kebs inspected 409,070 cars under the pre-export verification programme.
In its July 8 notice, Kebs said it had engaged QISJ to prevent cases of importation of cars with forged or fraudulently acquired documents. The agency said QISJ validates import documents to determine the age, amid concerns that cars older than eight years are still flooding the Kenyan market.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) offices.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
But in a July 29, 2025 letter, the committee questioned the award, warning that the levy imposed for QISJ’s services would increase the cost of imported cars.
The dispute is not new. A special audit by the office of the Auditor-General on pre-export verification tenders was tabled in Parliament in 2019, following up on an earlier 2016 audit. The Public Investments Committee, in its report, found that Kebs had flouted legal advice and held former MD Bernard Njiraini personally responsible for procurement irregularities. MPs now want clarity on the procurement process that led to QISJ’s engagement.
The committee is also seeking the legal basis for Kebs’ directive requiring document validation, the availability of an appeals mechanism for disputes, and the impact on small and medium-sized importers, port efficiency, and customs clearance timelines.
Kebs says the PVOC programme is meant to safeguard health, safety, the environment, and trade by blocking substandard imports, ensuring a level playing field for local manufacturers, and preventing dumping and unfair practices.
Vehicles entering Kenya must meet key requirements: they must not be more than eight years old, must be right-hand drive, structurally sound, free from smoke emissions, and, if imported from Japan, must be tested for radiation contamination. Specialised vehicles such as mining trucks, tractors, and fire engines are exempt from some of these rules.
The Shinali-led committee has vowed to dig into the matter, raising questions that could determine whether QISJ keeps hold of the multi-billion-shilling tender.
