Court stops KEBS tender over alleged bias against local contractors
KEBS had invited bids in January for prequalification for the provision of PVOC services for the 2025–2028 period. Of the 19 bidders, 18 were international firms.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has been temporarily barred by the Court of Appeal from awarding a multimillion-shilling tender for the inspection of goods prior to their departure from the exporting country.
The appellate court halted the process, which began in January, after a Kenyan firm, Precision Experts, challenged it on the grounds that the tender discriminated against local contractors.
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Precision Experts had initially moved to the High Court to stop the process after its bid was dismissed by the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board in March. However, Justice John Chigiti dismissed the case, prompting the firm to escalate the matter to the Court of Appeal.
At the appellate court, the firm argued that KEBS was poised to award the tender imminently, which would render the appeal purely academic.
The firm further contended that several mandatory requirements outlined in the tender documents were discriminatory towards citizen contractors, unreasonably excessive, and in contravention of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
“The appellant, Precision Experts Ltd, is reasonably apprehensive that during the prosecution of the present appeal, the tender process shall proceed to contract execution with prequalified bidders, thereby rendering the appeal moot, redundant, and an academic exercise,” the firm stated through its lawyer, Andrew Mwango.
In their ruling, Justices Gatembu Kairu, Jamila Mohammed, and Aggrey Muchelule said: “Pending delivery of the judgment/ruling of the Court scheduled for May 23, 2025, an interim order of stay of proceedings in respect of Tender No. KEBS/PRE-Q/T006/2025/2028—Prequalification for Provision of Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVOC) to Standards Services for the years 2025–2028—is hereby granted.”
KEBS had invited bids in January for prequalification for the provision of PVOC services for the 2025–2028 period. Of the 19 bidders, 18 were international firms.
The prequalification process was ongoing when Precision Experts moved to court, seeking to halt the process until its concerns were addressed.
Inspection companies contracted under this programme assist in verifying the quality and compliance of goods destined for Kenya before export.
Precision Experts alleged that the tender documents unfairly favoured foreign firms by imposing conditions that contravened the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, thereby sidelining citizen contractors.
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