The public procurement watchdog has ordered the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to conduct a fresh evaluation of a controversial Sh740 million health insurance tender, following a review of the initial exercise unearthed violations of the law.
The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) nullified the decision of the KWS to award the three-year contract to Britam General Insurance Company (K) Limited and ordered a re-evaluation of all the tenders submitted by interested bidders within 45 days.
The board found that the evaluation of the bids was neither conducted by the procurement laws nor the provisions of the tender document.
For instance, the board chaired by lawyer George Murugu found that the bid for Jubilee Health Insurance Ltd was unfairly knocked out during the evaluation process over allegations of contravening the “One Tenderer Per Tender” requirement.
It later turned out that Jubilee had been fixed into the alleged malpractice by one of the bidders.
"The board specifically finds that Jubilee’s bid was unfairly disqualified, as it was not afforded an opportunity to respond to the allegations before the disqualification. Moreover, at the time the procuring entity disqualified Jubilee Insurance, as admitted by itself in these proceedings, it had not established the veracity of the claims," said the board's decision on May 19, 2025.
The tender was advertised early this year and was for the provision of comprehensive group medical insurance cover for the KWS board of trustees and staff (policies for years 2025/2026, 2026/2027, and 2027/2028).
The tender had attracted eight health insurers including Jubilee, Britam, CIC General Insurance, Old Mutual, Star Discover, APA Insurance, AAR Insurance, and Liaison Group Insurance Brokers.
After evaluation of the bids, KWS awarded the tender to Britam after emerging as the lowest bidder with a quotation of Sh710 million. though the letter of award indicated the tender price was Sh740 million, an inflation of Sh30 million.
KWS tender evaluation committee alleged Jubilee had submitted two bids—one directly and another through Liaison Group Insurance Brokers, who was said to have attached a letter allegedly issued by Jubilee on April 8, 2025, authorising Liason to use its technical documents.
Jubilee denied authoring or issuing such a letter and upon requesting and receiving a copy, stated that the letter did not emanate from it, citing anomalies including incorrect director names and a fictitious physical address.
It turned out that the letter was a forgery perpetrated without Jubilee's knowledge or consent. Jubilee sought re-admission into the tender evaluation process.
The forgery complaint was never addressed, prompting the filing of a request for review of KWS's decision to disqualify Jubilee.
The board further heard that despite the suspension of the tender proceedings via its letter dated April 28, 2025, the KWS had unlawfully proceeded to issue a letter of intent to Britam at an increased bid price of Sh740 million —an amount Sh30 million higher than what was previously disclosed.
Jubilee maintained that it had complied with the tender requirements, including the stipulation to submit only one bid.
The tribunal stated that KWS ought to have sought clarification from Jubilee Insurance especially since the consequence of the alleged violations was disqualification from the tender.
"Before arriving at any adverse decision, it is important to give the affected party a fair opportunity to respond to the said allegations. Failure to accord a hearing amounts to a breach of their right to be heard, a key tenet of fair administrative action under Article 47 of the Constitution and the Fair Administrative Action Act," said PPARB.
It held that KWS was obligated to engage Jubilee and provide an opportunity to respond to the allegation of submitting two bids. Other members of the tribunal were Ms Alice Oeri and Alexander Musau.
