The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is under investigations for awarding a Ksh40 billion tender to a Chinese firm that had been blacklisted by the World Bank.
The firm, which was awarded the tender in 2016, was tasked to construct the Kipevu Oil Terminal in Mombasa.
According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the firm is also under investigations for inflating the cost of the project from Ksh15 billion to Ksh25 billion and eventually Ksh40 billion.
Additionally, the Anti-Graft agency noted that after KPA awarded the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) the tender, it delayed making the announcement for almost three months for unknown reasons.
It has now been divulged that CCCC’s parent company, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), had been blacklisted by the World Bank in 2009 for an eight-year period until January 12, 2017.
The firm was blacklisted following investigations that revealed that CRBC had “engaged in collusive practices in World Bank-funded projects in the Philippines.”
The information, which is available on the World Bank’s debarred list, also said that CRBC had colluded with Philippines’ state officials to enter “non-competitive, artificially high bid prices”.
In 2018, a whistle-blower drafted a letter to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and EACC requesting for the cancellation of the tender.
In response, CCCC asserted that being blacklisted by the World Bank does not prevent it from bidding for contracts.
In a letter sent to EACC, the company wrote: “CCCC was, and has, not from any point been debarred by the World Bank from participating or bidding for port projects. The debarment, which is irrelevant for the present purposes, only applied to World Bank-funded projects related to roads and bridges.”
The EACC is currently in the process of questioning several past and current port managers over the tender, issued last October.
Among those who have recorded statements so far is former KPA managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi.
All members of KPA’s tendering and evaluation committee, led by its chairman Rashid Salim, have also recorded statements.