The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has opened a probe into State helicopter hire contracts awarded to a private aviation firm owned by a sitting director of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
This follows revelations that Pro Flight Limited secured more than 90 percent of the government contracts in the last three financial years. The company is owned by Liltasayon Neepe, a retired Kenya Air Force officer and a current KAA board member.
“Based on the information uploaded into the PPIP, we can say that there is compliance with procurement law,” PPRA Director-General Patrick Wanjuki said in an email response to queries by the Business Daily.
“Further, the authority will engage the procuring entities (PEs) either through assessment or audit to verify the process because the concerned PEs have not uploaded all the documentation on PPIP (Public Procurement Information Portal),” he added.
Data from the PPIP shows that Pro Flight Limited was awarded nine out of 11 helicopter hire contracts published for the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Over the same period, only two other firms –Albatross Aviation Limited and Flight Training Centre Limited – secured such tenders.
Mr Neepe, who is CEO of Pro Flight, was appointed to the KAA board in 2022, just weeks before former President Uhuru Kenyatta left office. He previously served two terms on the board of the Kenya Pipeline Company.
The aviation company has so far signed government contracts worth Sh31.5 million, compared to a total of Sh33.4 million in chopper hire tenders published over the three-year period. The largest of these deals came in June 2023, when the Tea Board of Kenya paid Sh6.4 million for eight days of helicopter services.
Other government agencies that have contracted Pro Flight include the Kenya National Highways Authority, the National Cereal and Produce Board, the Lake Victoria South Water Services Board, and the National Oil Corporation of Kenya. In previous years, the firm worked with the State Departments of Energy and Livestock and the Geothermal Development Company.
Most of these contracts were awarded through the Request for Quotation (RFQ) process – a less competitive procurement approach that allows government departments to directly seek price quotes from a shortlist of prequalified suppliers, typically for projects valued under Sh3 million.
While RFQ is legal under the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act for low-value contracts, questions are emerging about why Pro Flight has consistently won contracts while several other helicopter operators have not.
According to PPIP, companies like Lady Lori, Ngatia Executive, Rotorjet Aviation, Tropic Air Kenya, Aerocruise Air Charters & Safaris DMC, Helicopter Charter (E.A) Limited, Bamm Tours and Travels, Africa Holiday and Travel and Exclusive Air Services Limited – linked to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi – have never secured a government chopper hire tender.
None of these companies is even listed as a registered supplier on the portal.
Business Daily contacted directors of some of these firms, but none agreed to speak on the record about the apparent exclusion.
Mr Neepe also declined to answer questions about how his firm has managed to win nearly all government helicopter contracts.
“I got many texts from Nation [Media Group] on the same, and I have responded many times,” he said in a WhatsApp message. However, records show this was the first time Nation had contacted him for comment about the issue.
Public finance experts termed the tenders questionable, both because of the dominance of one firm and the over-reliance on the RFQ procurement method.
John Mutua, an economist and project coordinator at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the tenders needed to be investigated because such dominance is unusual.
“When you see that, it definitely raises eyebrows, and makes it necessary to look into the tenders to see whether there was any mischief,” he said.
“I mean, the law provides for conditions when RFQ methods can be used, and I don’t really think such a service as helicopter hire really meets the threshold. So there’s a need to really look into that,” he added.
Pundits have previously sounded the alarm about the overuse of the RFQ procurement method in State tenders, even when it’s not necessary, locking out several potential suppliers.
