Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) is now free to proceed with a multi-billion-shilling tender for inspecting goods before leaving the exporting country.
The Court of Appeal gave Kebs a nod after dismissing the appeal by Precision Experts Ltd—a Kenyan firm that had challenged the process arguing that the tender discriminated against citizen contractors.
According to justices Gatembu Kairu, Jamila Mohammed and Aggrey Muchelule, the challenge by the Kenyan firm against the tender for Pre-Export Verification Conformity, was filed one day late.
The judges said section 175 of the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act was elaborate on timelines.
They said the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board has to determine a case referred to it within 21 days and anyone aggrieved by the board’s decision has to move to court within 14 days.
The judges further explained that the High Court has 45 days to hear the application and make a determination and if the aggrieved party still wishes to challenge the matter, it has seven days to move to the Court of Appeal. The appeal has to be determined within 45 days and its decision final.
“For those reasons, we find that the learned judge was right in finding that the appellant’s chamber summons dated April 4, 2025, seeking leave to apply for orders of certiorari to quash the decision and the proceedings of the first respondent (the board) was time-barred. The decision to strike it out was sound in law and cannot be faulted,” said the judges.
The Kenyan firm challenged the tender, arguing that some mandatory requirements in the tender documents were discrimination against citizen contractors, unreasonably excessive and contrary to the provisions of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015.
The Review Board dismissed the firm’s bid in March and the company moved to the High Court, but the same was thrown out by Justice John Chigiti on April 11, stating that the petition was filed out of time.
Precision Experts Ltd then rushed to the Court of Appeal and obtained temporary orders, stopping the tender process.
Kebs and Quality Inspection Services Inc Japan had opposed the case stating that the procurement process was already at an advanced stage.
Kebs invited bids in January for the year 2025-2028 and 18 of the 19 bidders were international candidates.
The pre-qualification process was ongoing, when the Kenyan firm moved to court, seeking to stall the process until its grievances were addressed. The companies assist in the inspection of goods, to ensure that products being imported into the country are verified before export.
Precision Experts submitted that the requirement of evidence of the tenderer’s physical presence and location to provide Pre-Export Verification Conformity services imposes a substantial burden on citizen candidates.
The company said as a citizen contractor, it faces discrimination because international candidates were granted time to achieve compliance for contract execution, whereas citizen contractors must meet compliance requirements and incur expenses upfront, even before getting tender.
The firm wants the appellate court to address the computation of time, “particularly where decisions are delivered outside the normal working days or hours”.
The firm maintained that it filed its petition within 14 days.
