Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said this was the lowest bidder compared to Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Limited and Hewlett-Packard, HP who were also shortlisted/XINHUA FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 7 – The Education Ministry has awarded Olive Telecommunications PVT Limited the tender for supply of laptops to public primary schools at a cost of Sh24.6billion.
Making the announcement, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said this was the lowest bidder compared to Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Limited and Hewlett-Packard, HP who were also shortlisted.
The company is expected to distribute 400,000 laptops to various schools in the first batch before the end of March this year.
“It is possible to award a tender to a company that claims to have an office yet it doesn’t even exist. To find a company that doesn’t even have the capability from a technical perspective. The result of our evaluation indicates that Olive Telecommunication PVT Limited is the lowest and most advantageous bidder,” Kaimenyi told journalists.
He says the government will save about Sh8billion compared to the previous cancelled tender which quoted at Sh32 billion.
The CS maintained that he could not disclose the details of the company or the quotations by the rest of the bidders adding that it was not in line with the procurement process.
Kaimenyi in the meantime denied claims that Olive Telecommunications had not met all the qualifications during the awarding of the tender adding that company had the financial, legal and technical capabilities.
“We don’t make decisions on claims, on rumours; it is not advisable. This company has the capacity and the capability to do exactly what is expected of them away from rumours. Because as a nation we cannot make decisions based on claims,” Kaimenyi maintained.
The international competitive bidding process closed on November 21 last year with the final negotiations with all the bidders closing on December 10.
“On Tuesday December 10, the Ministry engaged in competitive negotiations with the three bidders and asked them to provide the Best and Final Offer (BAFO). The bidders submitted their best offers on December 13, 2013,” Kaimenyi clarified.
In its evaluation, the CS said his ministry used what he termed as Specially Permitted Procedure which takes the negotiations approach.
Over 1.3 million laptops are set to be bought plus 20,367 projectors and 20,367 printers for the whole project.
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