The Kenya National Highways Authority wants a petition challenging a tender award to be struck out on a technicality.
The petition was brought against it at the Public Private Partnerships Petitions Committee, by a consortium of four foreign firms which lost the tender to construct the 187 kilometre Nairobi-Mau Summit highway.
In an affidavit sworn on March 14 by Eng. George Kiiru, the deputy director in Kenha’s public-private partnerships department, the roads authority claims that the person who filed the petition on behalf of the losing consortium is a “stranger” to the tendering process.
Mr John Kaigua Kimotho filed the petition on behalf of a consortium of Egis Projects S.A (France), Mota-Engil-Engenharia E Construcao Africa, S.A (Portugal), Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers Seed Partnership (South Africa), and Orascom Construction Ltd (Egypt) — which lost the bid to construct the road.
However, Kenha now claims that the consortium granted the power of attorney in their tender document to one Joao Vasco Alves dos Reis as “its true and lawful attorney” for matters relating to the tender.
“The purported petition … is incompetent and a nullity and ought to be struck out and dismissed for the reason that the applicant John Kaigua Kimotho who was has purportedly petitioned for and on behalf of the petitioning consortium and has sworn the affidavit in support of the purported petition is a stranger to the tender process for the reason that he is not authorised representative of the consortium,” the Kenha letter says.
The affidavit further states that the power of attorney granted to Mr Kimotho by the consortium and which is attached to the petition is invalid since it was not communicated to Kenha beforehand “as required by the tender documents.”
The consortium, which calls itself Mota-Engil, since the Portuguese firm is the lead member, is contesting Kenha’s decision of February 27 to award the tender to Rift Valley Connect consortium (RVC) which is composed of three French firms Vinci Highways, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund, and Vinci Concessions.