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Three rival Japanese firms have been awarded the contract for to inspect imported second-hand motor vehicles in what Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) says is meant to end controversy that has riddled the deal for the past year.
The standards body, which is mandated to carry the inspection of second-hand cars before they are shipped to Kenya but contracts the service for efficiency, says it opted for the three firms to create competition as well as to avoid the backlash that comes with the award to a single agent.

Three rival Japanese firms have been awarded the contract for to inspect imported second-hand motor vehicles in what Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) says is meant to end controversy that has riddled the deal for the past year.

The standards body, which is mandated to carry the inspection of second-hand cars before they are shipped to Kenya but contracts the service for efficiency, says it opted for the three firms to create competition as well as to avoid the backlash that comes with the award to a single agent.

This is a departure from the past where one firm has been given the entire deal, leaving the losing firms to protest.

“This will also provide an alternative for importers in case one is unavailable or overwhelmed,” said Kebs managing director Evah Oduor.

“I made such a suggestion to Tanzania to have more than one firm; they adopted it, and it has been successful. Why not try this at home? It will also reduce cases where one loser feels slighted,” Ms Oduor told the Sunday Nation in an interview.

The three firms are Auto Terminal Japan, Japan Export Vehicle Inspection Centre Co Ltd (Jevic) and Quality Inspection Services Inc Japan. They will inspect vehicles from Japan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Singapore and South Africa.

The three will serve as Kebs agents, and their contracts take effect January 16, 2012.

This move offers relief to Quality Inspection firm, whose contract was cancelled in October last year, just two days after it had been awarded. Heavy lobbying among the insiders attracted intervention by Industrialisation permanent secretary Karanja Kibicho.

At one point, the tender was handed to Jevic, a rival firm, whose previous contract expired in April.

Ms Oduor cited flaws in the tender evaluation process, an issue the procurement authority had already raised some time back.

This had forced the standards body to re-tender.

“There were about six applicants in the second process, and the three emerged the best,” Ms Oduor said.

The pre-shipment inspection business has for decades been dogged by corruption.

Lst January Kebs invited applications for the agency business which attracted 12 firms. Nine were dismissed by the evaluation committee, leaving Quality Inspection, Jevic and Bureau Veritas. Bureau Veritas was disqualified for failing to meet technical marks.

The evaluation committee, however, did not qualify either of the remaining two and instead went ahead to conduct due diligence.

Thereafter, a number of evaluation and re-evaluation committees were formed or told to redo their job, and controversy has stalked the process.

The third three-member evaluation committee appointed in May ranked Quality Services the best, with a 78.4 per cent score compared to Jevic’s 77.9 per cent. It recommend that the winner take the contract. But the issue did not end there as the Kebs tender committee dismissed the recommendation and awarded the tender to Jevic.

Several irregularities

The Public Procurement Oversight Authority found several irregularities in the process including overlapping evaluation committees. It pointed out that introduction of due diligence was irregular since it was not part of original requirements.

Ms Oduor says she seeks to eliminate the tension that has followed each contract by following the laid-down procedures.

“All importers of used motor vehicles, including returning residents, must observe Kenya Standards, especially in relation to the eight-year requirement of only right-hand drive motor vehicles whose year of first registration is 2005. The vehicles shall also be accompanied by a Certificate of Roadworthiness issued in the country of export (country of supply) by the Kebs-appointed inspection body/contracted agent,” read in part the statement appointing the agents.

This came two weeks after the government confirmed Ms Oduor as the managing director of the standards body, ending three months of uncertainty since her predecessor – Joseph Kipketer Koskey – was forced out of office.