A tender rewardee has gone viral after he gave an interesting account to a parliamentary committee on how he clinched a Ksh180 million tender for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
James Njuguna, the director of La Miguela Holdings Limited, on Thursday, December 10, disclosed that he was passing by, outside the KEMSA offices when he saw a number of individuals lining up.
Curious about the happenings, Njuguna went on to check what was going on. It is here that he was told people were filling tender applications.
“I went straight to the receptionist who advised me not to waste time and apply for the tenders which were being flouted. I quickly wrote a two-sentence letter and after two hours I was told I had succeeded and asked to collect the commitment letter from the Chief Executive Officer’s office,” the committee heard.
During the time he was awarded the tender, Njuguna explained that he had a friend who had tested positive for Covid-19.
He stated that the case felt personal to him. Hence, when he got the opportunity to supply the PPEs, he could not turn the offer down.
Asked why he did not take the necessary steps to acquire the tender, Njuguna stated that the country was in a crisis and there was no time to follow the procedures.
“Things happened very first, I was acting as directed. There were many people seeking the tenders and therefore one could not question the process at the time.
"The tenders were being issued to address an emergency and hence no need to go through the tedious process as time was running out, the country had been hit by a pandemic," he added.
He was testifying before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) that is probing inflated and irregular tenders at Kemsa - popularly referred to as the Covid Millionaires Scandal.
Njuguna's narration has since gone viral, eliciting a number of mixed reactions from Kenyans.
"To get Ksh180M for free, you only need a pen and come close to KEMSA premises. Your life shall never be the same," Kisemei Mutisya stated.
"People must be walking in the wrong places at the wrong time. Start walking around kemsa and government institutions," another weighed in.
