The Administrative Public Procurement Review Committee has ordered Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University to re-evaluate a tender for the provision of group life insurance, work injury benefits and personal accident cover.
This came after the board of directors cancelled the award to Kenya Alliance Insurance Limited and Zamara Risk Insurance Brokers Limited.
“The letters of notice of intent to award dated 2 May 2024 issued to the applicant and all other bidders are hereby cancelled and set aside.
“The Notice of Intent to Award letters dated May 16, 2024, issued to the applicant and all other bidders are hereby cancelled and rescinded,” the PPARB ruling reads in part.
The dispute arose after the university notified Kenyan Alliance Insurance, through a letter dated May 2, 2024, that it was the winning bidder with its bid price of Shs17,698,987.
However, on 16 May 2024, the University sent a letter to all bidders, notifying them that Zamara Risk Insurance was the successful bidder for its bid price of Shs11,988,854.
This prompted Kenya Alliance Insurance to seek a review of the decision. The insurance company told the council that the university had acted beyond its mandate by claiming to reopen the evaluation of tenders without involving it, adding: “Section 83 of the Act (Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act) requires any subsequent qualification process to be undertaken before the award of the tender. The consultant was of the view that the first notification was what was expected under section 87 of the Act and urged the council to allow the review application.
In its defence, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University argued that the first notice was not an award but an intention to award. It stated that when the first notice was issued, the Insurance Regulatory Authority responded to its letter seeking clarification on the bidders.
The response confirmed that some of the entities that were excluded for not obtaining licenses actually had licenses, and at this stage the university decided to withdraw the first notification.
It added that the Kenyan Alliance violated the Code of Ethics by providing inaccurate information about its litigation history. The university alleged that while the applicant indicated in its affidavit that it had no litigation history, it did have pending litigation cases.
Zamara Risk Insurance, which was suspended as a respondent in the case, told the council that Section 86 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act defined a successful bidder as the person who submitted the lowest bid price, and whose bid price was the lowest.
The Claims Review and Compensation Authority noted that “in the circumstances as determined, the First and Second Respondents did not notify the Applicant of their intention to re-evaluate the bids based on the new information from the IRA, did not allow the Applicant to review the said information from the IRA on an equal footing and did not allow the Applicant to make representations regarding the said information from the IRA. Accordingly, the First and Second Respondents’ actions were in contravention of the Applicant’s right to fair administrative action.”
Regarding the efforts made, the Council explained that the University had made a mistake in completing its assessment before receiving the Insurance Regulatory Authority’s response.
