Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa could put Kenya in trouble after it emerged that he awarded a multi-billion tender to a blacklisted company.
Water Principal Secretary Mr Patrick Mwangi on Tuesday told the National Assembly committee on agriculture that he had rejected a directive by Wamalwa, demanding a Chinese company be awarded a tender to construct a Sh62.3 Billion dam in Makueni.
The company, China Gezhouba Construction Group Corporation, had apparently been blacklisted by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) over “integrity issues.”
Mr Mwangi further indicated that Wamalwa wrote him a letter indicating that he [Wamalwa] had written to AfDB informing them that China Gezhouba Construction Group Corporation had won the tender to construct the dam.
The PS also confirmed that China Gezhouba had used the experience of one of its subsidiaries – China Engineering Company Number 1 – which had been barred by the World Bank and AfDB from bidding for the dam.
The award of the tender to China Gezhouba caused an uproar from other bidders. Another Chinese firm, Sinohydro, contested the award citing the ban on the company.
The CS, however, indicated that the tender was issued to the lowest bidder who in this case was China Gezhouba.
Mr Wamalwa also wrote a protest letter to the parliamentary committee on agriculture accusing them of attempting to block the project through their investigations.
Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung’wa accused the Water CS of trying to direct what Parliament does and asked Mr Mwangi to state whether the House had issued any directive to stop the procurement.
China Gezhouba had previously been issued the contract to develop the Northern Water Collector Tunnel in Murang’a, but the project was stopped to allow for investigations after a lot of queries were raised.
The award of the tender to a blacklisted company by the CS could lead to the cancellation of funding from AfDB who are the main sponsors of the project.
The matter, if not urgently solved, could also scare away potential investors from dealing with the country.
Mr Wamalwa has since been summoned to appear before the committee on Thursday to respond to procurement issues and the protest letter against the investigation by parliament.
