Sh20B Tender Scandal Rocks KPC

On March 11, 2025 Kenya Pipeline Company Limited announced a significant tender designated as KPC/PU/OT-163/PROJECTS/NBI/24-25, focusing on the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of 3 new storage tanks (with 10,000 m3 capacity each), other new 5 no tanks of various capacity and flow rate enhancement in the Kisumu (PS28), Eldoret (PS27), and Nakuru (PS25) depots.

The said tender was tailored to suit a certain company known as Weld-con Engineering; that Kenyans will learn has been engaged in a number of similarly tailored tenders to push out other local contractors from competitive bidding.

Whereas KPC would argue and want Kenyans to believe that the said tender is essential for improving the efficiency and capacity of oil transport hubs, KPC has deliberately failed to comply with the Constitutional requirement for a fair and competitive tendering process and even the existing procurement regulations.

 Local companies with the capacity to execute the contract have been locked out during the tendering process by having restrictive requirements in the tender document to lock them out.

There is no doubt that, the MD for KPC Limited, the General Manager procurement & General Manager infrastructure at KPC among other individuals are on a deal-making mission with Wel-con Engineering and have received funding from the contractor. This may not be news since it has been the trend at KPC.

In the recent past, Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) has made a number of Rulings against KPC that would lead contractors to question the conduct of the senior management at KPC. In 2023, it emerged that KPC issued tender Award letters to two (2) different bidders which led the PPARB to nullify the Contract that KPC had entered with one of the Contractors.

In a nother tender that was challenged by a local company before the PPARB, the notorous KPC management disqualified the local company alledging that it had submitted a power of attorney addressed to KERRA whereas the said power of attorney was addressed to KPC. This was just a flimsy way of eliminating the bidder and awarding their preferred company. In took PPARB’s intervention to have the Award withdrawn and KPC was directed to re-evaluate the tender. These are just but a few cases of irregularities occassioned by KPC to local companies.

It has now become evident that KPC senior management are in cahoots with the private company in the tender KPC/PU/OT-163/PROJECTS/NBI/24-25 that was closed on 9th April 2025 at 10:00am. Despite numerous complaints by local contractors, KPC senior management choose to ignore all the complaints that were raised by a number of local contractors who directly wrote to them as well as to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority. It is more saddening and occasioning real frustration to the local Contractors since the Board is not holding KPC management accountable. This is due to the fact that

the accounting officer is the CEO and he is the person who is responsible for the tendering and award of all projects and procurement items.

Indeed the CEO, the GM Procurement and GM Infrastructure ought to have been fired for incompetence and collusion with a contractor to tailor and award them tenders without adhering to public procurement laws. Why should Kenyans sufffer by loosing out tenders to a few corrupt individuals?

The said corrupt individuals in collusion with KPC have penetrated the Judiciary through the well known “Jurispesa” system to have court orders obtained by companies to stay the tender opening date overturned last minute without any proper grounds and without following the well set procedures for review or appeal.

It will not come as a suprise if the said irregular tender is ultimately awarded to the said private Company-Weld-con Engineering irregularly.