High Court suspends Sh15 billion rice tender over cancelled bids
The High Court in Mombasa ruled that AFA must not award the 250,000-tonne rice quota to any private party outside the lawful tender process.
The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) has been temporarily barred from reallocating a Sh15 billion rice import tender following a dispute over the cancellation of bids by 17 successful importers.
The High Court in Mombasa ruled that AFA must not award the 250,000-tonne rice quota to any private party outside the lawful tender process.
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Justice Jairus Ngaah issued the conservatory order on Thursday after AFA revoked a tender awarded by the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) to 17 companies and attempted to allocate the quota to a single firm.
The judge suspended AFA’s decision dated September 10, 2025, which purported to revoke the allocation made by KNTC in a letter dated July 29, 2025, and also suspended the tender awarded by KNTC on September 9, 2025.
“The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), whether by itself, its agents, servants, or assigns, is hereby restrained from issuing, reallocating, or otherwise purporting to allocate the 250,000 MT rice importation quota to any private individuals or entities outside of the lawful tender process conducted by KNTC pursuant to Gazette Notice No. 10353 of 28th July 2025 and the Court ruling of 19th August 2025,” Justice Ngaah said.
The case was brought by businessmen Ibrahim Mohamed and Abdiaziz Noor, who filed a certificate of urgency, arguing that AFA’s actions unlawfully reallocated the rice quota to undisclosed private entities. They sued AFA, KNTC, the Cabinet Secretaries for Agriculture, Trade and Treasury, Kenya Revenue Authority, the Commissioner of Customs and Border Control and the Attorney General. The 17 successful bidders were cited as interested parties.
According to their lawyer Abdullahi Yussuf, KNTC invited 60 qualified importers to bid, with 17 emerging successful.
“On September 10, 2025, AFA unlawfully revoked the tender allocation by KNTC, which led to the cancellation of the tender we won after competitive bidding on September 17, 2025,” Abdullahi said.
He added that without urgent conservatory orders, the entire 250,000 MT quota risks being irregularly reallocated before October 31, 2025, undermining lawful court orders and public interest in food safety, transparency and fair competition.
Justice Ngaah certified the matter as urgent and directed parties to file responses before the next mention on October 23, 2025. He said AFA’s actions could frustrate or compromise the effect of an earlier ruling by the High Court in Kerugoya, which allowed imports of only 250,000 MT.
“In the meantime, in order to preserve the substratum of the petition, and to the extent that the respondents’ impugned actions may frustrate or compromise the effect of the order of this Honourable Court sitting at Kerugoya in High Court Petition Number E 009 of 2025, conservatory orders pending the hearing of the application or until such further orders are made by this Honourable Court are hereby granted,” the judge said.
Among those affected are Pakistani rice exporters. The Pakistani High Commission wrote to KNTC after the tender’s cancellation, seeking clarity on the procedures for engaging in Kenya’s market.
“The High Commissioner further seeks clarification on the specific procedures and guidelines governing the issuance and administration of this quota to enable Pakistani exporters to engage with the Kenyan market with confidence and clarity,” reads a letter dated September 12.
Originally, KNTC planned to import 500,000 tonnes of grade one rice, but farmers’ legal challenges in Kerugoya led Justice Edward Muriithi to limit imports to 250,000 MT, expected by October 31, 2025. AFA had attempted to replace 16 vetted firms with four companies—Zyan Agencies, Ecoview Commodities, Njema Commodities and Solid Commodities, that had not participated in the August bidding process. The imports, valued at Sh14.8 billion, are duty-free under Kenya’s annual import strategy to address a rice deficit of nearly 800,000 tonnes.
The petitioners argued that bypassing a lawful tender threatens competition and public interest.
“The actions have the likely effect of concentrating market power, reducing competition in wholesale and retail markets and exposing consumers and local millers to exploitation through possible price inflation,” they said.
They added that direct allocation without advertisement risks arbitrary selection, favouritism, or elite capture, undermining public confidence and the constitutional principles of governance in Article 10.
The traders further noted that AFA did not provide reasons for revocation or publish decision-making records, evaluation criteria, or any information to the public despite the allocation’s national significance.
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