NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 4 — The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) has ordered the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to review and amend its tender for the Integrated Elections Management System (IEMS), in a decision that temporarily disrupts the procurement of key election technology.

📻 Breaking It Down

The Board allowed in part a request for review filed by Galadriel Investments Limited against IEBC’s tender for the supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning, support and maintenance of the IEMS, hardware equipment and accessories.

The tender had been the subject of a review application filed in August, triggering a suspension of the procurement proceedings.

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📌 What You Need to Know

In its decision, the Board found that although several complaints raised by the applicant were not proved, its own examination of the tender document identified deficiencies requiring correction.

“We have found that the Tender Document contains certain deficiencies relating to the clarity, certainty and objectivity of some of its requirements and evaluation criteria,” the Board said in a ruling on Thursday.

It added that the deficiencies were “capable of being addressed through appropriate clarification, correction and alignment” with the applicable statutory requirements.

The Board specifically flagged areas concerning the technical specifications and evaluation criteria, including how applicable standards would be identified, requirements for international bidders, allocation of technical evaluation scores and provisions relating to post-qualification and contract awards.

It also raised concerns over how compliance with prescribed qualifications for key personnel would be demonstrated and objectively determined.

The Board concluded that the tender, “as originally issued, did not in all respects satisfy the statutory and constitutional requirements applicable to the preparation and evaluation of tenders.”

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya