De La Rue offices in Ruaraka.[Photo/the-star.co.ke]
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Monday suffered a major blow after the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) canceled the multi-billion shilling contract for printing new-look currency to a British firm due to the wrongful application of the law.
In its ruling delivered yesterday, the PPARB ruled that CBK had violated the law by applying a 15 percent margin preference meant for local firms to favor De La Rue International Limited, which is registered in the UK.
“A declaration be and is hereby issued declaring that the 2nd Respondent herein De La Rue International Limited was unlawfully awarded the tender for the printing and supply of the new design Kenya currency and bank notes,” read the ruling in part.
Following the move, PPRB ordered CBK to undertake a fresh evaluation of all the tenders submitted to it by the four bidders who participated in the tender process and complete the entire exercise within 14 days. PPARB chairman Paul Gicheru directed that on awarding a fresh tender, CBK should take into considerations the provisions of the law as prescribed in the tender document.
“CBK is directed to undertake afresh evaluation of all tenders submitted to it by all the four bidders who participated in the process within 14 days,” he said.
The board’s decision comes after CBK awarded the contract for printing new-look currency to De La Rue International after it beat German Giesecke & Devrient, Crane Currency and Oberthur Fiduciaire of France last year.
However, following the award, a Swedish company, Crane AB, which offered the lowest bid however protested the award and accused CBK of flouting the law and lacking transparency in awarding the lucrative deal to De La Rue International Ltd under the guise of 15 percent margin preference to a firm with local shareholding disputing it as irregular.