MPs query tenders funded by foreigners
By Mercy Mwai, February 10, 2025Lawmakers want the awarding of tenders funded by international investors to be restructured, explaining that Kenyans are being locked out of the offers as financiers prefer their own local subsidiaries.
Members of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee want Attorney General Dorcas Oduor and National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi to explain why Kenyans are being discriminated against in the financing agreements.
While international financiers have included clauses favouring their own firms in tender awards, MPs argued, any loan facility extended to Kenya is serviced and repaid by local taxpayers.
Kenyans, they said, should be given first priority on any tender as they have the right qualifications to implement such proposals.
Financing agreement
MPs raised the concerns during a meeting with Roads Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua, who responded to queries from Auditor General Nancy Gathungu when the issue of the financing of the $60 million (Sh7.74 billion) Bus Rapid Transit on Outering Road arose.
It emerged that South Korea, which financed the project through a loan, preferred working with South Korean companies.
The deal between the Kenyan government and South Korea stipulates that only South Korean companies or entities registered in South Korea are eligible to bid for consultancy services.
Mbugua said most of the agreements are designed by the Attorney General and the National Treasury and thus he was unable to explain the process involved in that deal. He said: “According to the financing agreement, we are only supposed to attract Korean companies for bidding.”