Nairobi Activists Sue KeRRA Director General Over Alleged Corruption, Irregular Award Of Tenders

• A group of activists has filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of KeRRA Director General Philemon Kiprop Kandie over alleged corruption
• The petitioners accuse Kandie of irregularities in awarding tenders, specifically citing tenders RWC 647, RWC 648, and RWC 652, claiming the contracts were awarded unlawfully
• The activists claim that under Kandie's leadership, KeRRA tender documents were altered without justification
• They are demanding Kandie's removal from office and a court declaration barring him from participating in future procurement processes

Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi—A group of activists has filed a case seeking the removal of Philemon Kiprop Kandie, the Director General of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority ( KeRRA).

The activists, led by Bunge La Mwananchi president Francis Awino, have sued the DG over alleged corruption and economic crimes in a case in which Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission have also been included as interested parties.

The petitioners are citing alleged overwhelming illegalities, irregularities and circumvention of the law by KeRRA, which they say was confirmed by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, which has the mandate to uphold procurement standards in the country.

They are citing road projects under tenders RWC 647, RWC 648 and RWC 652, which, according to the petitioners, were awarded irregularly.

A search on the agency's website lists tender RWC 647 as upgrading and reconstruction to Bitumen Standards and Performance Based Routine Maintenance of the Timboroa-Meteitei road in Nandi County.

Tender RWC 648 is for upgrading to Bitumen standards and performance-based routine maintenance of Kaiboi-Chepterwai-Kaptembo to Kipkaren road.

Tender RWC 652 is for performance-based routine maintenance of Metembe-Owalo road in Baringo/Elgeyo Marakwet.

In the tender RWC 652, the petitioners claim that other than one of the bidders whose financial bid was below the engineer's estimates, all the other bidders who submitted their financial bids in the other tenders had financial estimates which were way above the budgets set for the projects by over one billion.

"Unfortunately, and regrettably so, the respondents proceeded to make an award to a bidder who had the highest financial bid and not the one with the lowest financial bid averse the provisions of sections 83 and 86 of the Public Proxy and Asset Disposal Act and Article 227 of the Constitution of Kenya,2010," the petitioners claim.

What are accusations against KeRRA DG?

They claim that the tender documents issued to the interested bidders upon advertising of the tender and the eligibility criteria were changed severally with different addendums being issued without any justification in law or fact.

The DG has also been accused of abusing his powers to control other departments, with the petitioners linking him to the alleged unprocedural transfer of one Julius Gakubia from his plum position in the maintenance department to strategic department within the agency.

Furthermore, they claim the DG and other top managers in KeRRA and the ministry at large have registered companies run as proxies that end up winning lucrative tender deals.

A company in question, as per the petitioner, is Shengli Engineering Construct ( Group), which was given the three tenders, RWC 647, RWC 648 and RWC 653, in November 2023.

This is despite the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority advising otherwise, stating that this was contravening Article 46( 1),(c).

What do petitioners against KeRRA DG want?

The DG has also been accused of failing to complete projects that have already been budgeted for and funds subsequently released.

A case in point is in the Juja constituency, where the agency commissioned the Mugutha (AP) secondary road P290, but it has never commenced.

They want the DG removed from office to pave the way for a clean KeRRA.

"Removal from office is therefore the constitution's final answer, a safety valve, to an officer or a public servant who mistakes himself for a monarch," part of the petition reads.

They want the court to declare the continued stay in office by the DG as illegal and for him to be completely barred from participating in procurement processes.

Kandie still in office despite court ruling

In a related report, TUKO.co.ke reported that it is business as usual for Kandie, one month after he lost his bid to be reinstated as the state corporation’s boss.

He had moved to the court of appeal seeking orders that he be reinstated in the office following a High Court decision that quashed a Gazette Notice that appointed him.

On June 30, Judges H. Omondi, John Mativo, and Ngenye Macharia ruled that to allow an individual to earn a salary when the process of his appointment is put into question compromises the sanctity of a transparent recruitment process and would militate against the public interest.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke