The National Treasury has been directed to evaluate afresh all tenders submitted for the development of the Public Investment Management Information Systems (PIMIS).
In a ruling, the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board said the evaluation committee should readmit all bids at the preliminary evaluation stage, taking into account issues raised by the deputy director of the supply chain management in an opinion issued in January.
The Sh320 million tender had been awarded to Kingsway Business Management Systems Ltd in a joint venture with United Business Solutions Ltd.
The tender was challenged by Gibb Africa Ltd, whose bid was rejected because it did not meet mandatory requirements.
Five bidders submitted their tenders, but Gibb Africa and two other bidders were knocked out for being non-responsive. The company challenged the decision before the board.
Gibb’s bid was declared non-responsive because the confidential business questionnaire, a mandatory requirement, was not stamped.
The bidder failed to stamp the self-declaration form and it also failed to stamp a self-declaration form that it will not engage in any corrupt or fraudulent practice.
Thereafter, the evaluation committee recommended the opening of financial bids for two bidders - Sybyl Kenya Ltd in a joint venture with Synergy International Systems, and that of Kingsway Business Systems Ltd in a joint venture with United Business Solutions.
However, before bids were opened, the deputy director of supply chain management at the Treasury issued an opinion that Synergy International Systems should have been disqualified at the preliminary stage for submitting a certificate of confirmation of directors and shareholding (CR120) certified by an advocate and not a commissioner of oaths.
The board said the head of procurement at the Treasury had usurped the role of the evaluation committee by disqualifying Sybyl Kenya.
The board said that instead, deputy director should have advised the accounting officer that a re-evaluation of tenders at the preliminary stage was appropriate in the circumstances.
“In this regard therefore, the board finds that the procedure followed by the procuring entity after a professional opinion was issued on 7th January 2021 leading to opening of 1st interested party’s financial proposal was unlawful.”
In the decision, the board said that a mandatory requirement cannot be waived by a procuring entity or termed as a minor deviation because the requirement is instrumental in determining the responsiveness of a bid.
The board also said it is important for bidders to compete on an equal footing, and where a procuring entity waives a mandatory requirement in favour of one bidder, that is contrary to the public procurement principles of fairness and equity.
