The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board has directed the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) to proceed with a multi-million tender for an e-clearing and forwarding platform and last-mile cargo delivery system.
This was after the board dismissed a request for review submitted by Greenworld Big Data Ltd, whose bid was knocked out at the preliminary stage for not meeting the mandatory requirement.
The board chaired by George Murugu dismissed the request questioning the circumstances under which the firm obtained confidential information concerning the subject tender, which it relied on in challenging the tender.
Fintech Edge Ltd, which quoted a bid price of Sh439 million and a proposal of a 50:50 revenue-sharing formula with PCK, won the tender.
“The respondents are hereby directed to proceed with the procurement proceedings for tender No. PCK/PROC/27/2023/2024 E-clearing and Forwarding Platform, E-Integrated Warehousing, and last-mile cargo delivery System,” the board said.
Greenworld Big Data Ltd was disqualified at the preliminary stage being non-compliant with mandatory requirements requiring a bidder to have financial inclusion capability that provides access to the e-payment solution through USSD and a license from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK).
“We find and hold that the instant request for review as filed is based on confidential information and documents which were illegally obtained thus rendering it fatally defective and incompetent,” the board said.
PCK invited bids for the tender, whose deadline was March 7, 2024.
At the close of the bids, four companies had submitted their bids including Kobby Technologies Ltd, Fintech Edge Ltd, Greenworld Big Data Ltd, and Tiba Freight Forwarders Ltd.
After conducting an evaluation, two of the tenders- including Greenworld Big Data Ltd- were determined to be non-responsive and two other tenders were cleared to proceed to the next stage.
At the financial evaluation, Kobby Technologies quoted a Sh2.08 billion bid price while Fintech Edge Ltd quoted Sh439 million and proposed a 50:50 percent revenue sharing formula.
The evaluation committee picked Fintech Edge Ltd as the best suitable bidder and recommended it for revenue-sharing negotiations.
The negotiation committee report dated April 29, 2024, agreed on 50:50 percent gross revenue, which will be subject to review after three years on request by either party.
However, Greenworld Big Data Ltd challenged the recommendation on May 15 and asked the board to compel PCK to repeat the process.
The board was informed that its bid was rejected in a biased, improper, and unfair manner since it submitted a partnership agreement with Safaricom, a holder of a CAK license.
PCK opposed the request arguing that both expression of interest and request for proposal stated clearly that it was a mandatory requirement for a tenderer to be in business for the last two years and must provide a certified copy of its incorporation and CR12.
The board was informed that Greenworld Big Data Ltd’s tender was found non-responsive from the expression of interest stage having not attained the minimum mandatory requirement of having been in business for more than two years.
The firm, the board heard, could not proceed to the technical evaluation stage, let alone be declared the successful bidder.
Posta further said it could not rely on Safaricom documents as the telco was not a bidder in a joint venture with Greenworld Big Data Ltd.
In dismissing the review, the board also directed the director general of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority to commence investigations on the circumstances under which confidential information came into possession of the firm and take appropriate action.
