The Anti-Corruption Court has issued fresh orders preventing the Kiambu County government from paying a balance of Ksh166 million from a tender worth Ksh230 million to a private firm after investigations revealed that the company had irregularly and fraudulently secured the tender.
In the ruling issued by Justice Lucy Njuguna, the court announced that the orders would be in place for 14 days, with the case set for hearing on November 13.
The ruling came after investigations conducted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) revealed irregularities in the award of the tender, meant for the development, installation, testing, training, commissioning and support services of an Enterprise Resource and Planning System (ERP).
According to an official report obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, the private company had in its tender bid provided audited financial statements for 2022, 2021, and 2020. This is after the Kiambu County government had advertised an invitation for bids for the tender on March 30, 2023.
However, investigations by EACC revealed that, contrary to the presentations made by the company, the financial statements had not been audited by the firm that the company had listed in the tender bid.
Further, the firm is said to have provided bank statements depicting a positive cash flow. EACC’s investigations painted a different picture, revealing that the bank statements were fraudulently and illegally edited to depict a healthy cash flow and profitability.
Also, the company, in its bid document, presented the curriculum vitae of two employees who were later established not to be actual employees, thus making the bid document flawed.
Details of the tender revealed that the Kiambu county government and the firm had executed the contract agreement on April 24, 2023, with the sum being Ksh230 million. The contract was to span six months, commencing not later than 14 days from the date of execution.
The investigations further revealed that around December 21, 2023, the private firm sought an extension of the contract, which had lapsed a month earlier. The extension sought was for 52 weeks, citing technical challenges and project complexity.
However, it emerged that on February 24, 2024, the Chief Officer of Revenue, Supply Chain Management, ICT, and Internal Audit illegally and irregularly signed the extension of the contract on behalf of the Kiambu County government, with the knowledge that there was no contract capable of being extended.
This, according to the EACC, was contrary to the provisions of Section 139 (2A) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act. Further investigations uncovered that so far, the company had been paid Ksh63 million by the county government.
Following investigations, the EACC filed a petition on October 28, 2025, seeking a permanent injunction restraining the county government of Kiambu from paying the remaining Ksh166 million. It also sought to recover the Ksh63 million paid to the private firm.
The Kiambu county government is yet to formally respond to the matter and issue an official statement to that effect.
