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Geothermal drilling tender in Kenya put on hold

Geothermal drilling tender in Kenya put on hold Drilling crew at Menengai, Kenya (source: flickr/ GDC5000)
Alexander Richter 28 May 2015

The GDC tender was advertised on May 15, for supply of oil, gas and geothermal drilling training equipment.

Local news from Kenya sate that a Sh3 billion (USD $30m) Geothermal Development Corporation (GDC) tender is among those frozen by the President for flouting the e-procurement Executive Order.

This is one of many that President Uhuru Kenyatta has frozen, from a total of Sh200 billion (USD $200m) in government tenders under suspicion of being given out without following the appropriate protocol.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has begun collecting documents and conducting investigations into the Sh2.9 billion (USD $290m) tender advertised 11 days ago.

The GDC tender was advertised on May 15, for supply of oil, gas and geothermal drilling training equipment.

The tender closing date is June 5.

It was neither captured in the GDC approved 2014-15 procurement plans nor budgeted.

Communication within GDC indicate that a day after being suspended by the President, a senior GDC officials designed and tailored the tender specifications and emails to acting CEO Godwin Mwawongo for advertising.

The tender specifications were skewed to favour a Chinese contractor who is subject of an ongoing investigation by the EACC over a $1.5 million (Sh146 million) variation.

According to the documents: “Bidder must have sold at least three rigs designed for geothermal drilling in the last three years to Africa

Kenya is the only country in Africa currently undertaking geothermal drilling and all the three rigs were procured and supplied by Sichuan Honghua.

The tender also requires that all bidders must be rig manufacturers and respond to all schedules to be responsive.

The GDC’s first four rigs and KenGen’s last two rigs were not supplied by a manufacturer.

Other specifications, including building a workshop and the requirement that a bidder must demonstrate experience in setting up and operating a workshop of at least 1000 square metres, seem to favour a particular company that has entered into a partnership with a local civil contractor.

For more details please follow the link.

Source: All Africa