Nairobi City County government is on the spot over irregular award of tenders to eight companies to supply street lighting materials at a cost of Sh313million during the Financial Year 2022/2023.
This was revealed in a report by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Eacc) forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
In the quarterly report between April and June, details show that the tender was advertised and the contracts awarded to the eight companies on the same day, a violation of the 14-day waiting period in line with the public procurement laws.
“It was also established that the LPOs were signed and issued out to the Suppliers without a preceding acceptance of the awards, in violation of the public procurement laws.” EACC said in their report to of the DPP.
According to the commission, the contracts were signed without the presence of an accounting officer who is mandated to assess the quality of an LPO (Local Purchasing Order) agreement.
Eacc filed the report to the DPP on June 3, 2024, to charge the relevant persons involved in the procurement process with 14 offences.
This includes six counts of corrupt practices in procurement processes, two counts of willful failure to comply with the law, and one count of uttering false documents.
Others are two counts of forgery, one count of financial misconduct, neglecting official duty and conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption.
The anti-graft body recommended the signed contract to be cancelled and disciplinary proceedings to be issued against those involved.
On the contrary, on July 26, 2024 the DPP returned the files to Eacc recommending the Sakaja led administration to take action against the suspects involved.
