ISL challenges KAA award of internet service to Safaricom

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KAA

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is locked in a battle with an ICT company over an internet services tender.
The details emerged Wednesday when Internet Solutions Ltd (ISL) went to court to challenge the awarding of the tender to Safaricom.
ISL, which has a presence in many African countries, sued the Public Procurement and Administrative Review Board.
The company listed KAA, Safaricom, Encapsulated Ltd and Simbanet Ltd as interested parties.
Through its lawyer Apollo Mboya, ISL urged the court to suspend the decision of the board to award the tender for maintaining the passenger internet wireless service at KAA premises on the grounds that Safaricom is not a locally registered ICT service provider.
Mr Mboya said Safaricom is not listed among companies accredited by the ICT Authority to provide such services to the government, considering that its accreditation expired on October 23, 2019.
According to ISL, the expiry date was way before the tender evaluation.
It added that while the review board found that the notification letters to successful and unsuccessful bidders were null and void, it still went on to award the tender to Safaricom.
ISL said the decision was contrary to the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act.
The company also accused KAA and the board of acting unlawfully and failing to conform to the requirements in the tender documents owing to the disputed decision, which was made on February 12.
“KAA and Safaricom may enter into a contract any time, seal the deal and render this suit nugatory,” Mr Mboya said.
“It is in the interest of Kenyans that this suit be heard expeditiously to safeguard public funds.”
The firm points the finger at the review board “for acting irrationally, unreasonably and exceeding its powers by amending the required qualifications” for the awarding of the disputed tender.
According to ISL top officials, the company was locked out only for failing to provide the academic qualifications of its team leader as well as four employees based at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
The company argued that the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act also allows the correcting of errors that do not affect the substance of the tender.
It also accused the airports authority of arbitrarily and unfairly amending the eligibility criteria by allowing Safaricom to bid for the tender “when it is not a registered ICT provider”.
“The decision of KAA violates the legitimate expectations of ISL and the public that the procuring entity will adhere to the eligibility criteria provided in the tender documents,” Mr Sylvester Wasonga Mboya, the chief commercial officer at the company, told the court.
Mr Mboya said the award should be quashed.

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