New 19 Billion Dam Scandal: Kenyan Media Bias Against Chinese Companies
Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 5:49 am
Irrigation board creates new Sh19bn dam scandal”. The question on my mind was, what will it take for this brazen corruption to stop?
Then, as I started reading the article, I realized it is all FAKE NEWS. Shame on you, the Daily Nation.
“A Chinese firm awarded a Sh19 billion tender to construct Lowaat Dam in Turkana County had been blacklisted by six multilateral development banks (MDBs) at the time the National Irrigation Board (NIB) invited bids for the project.”
https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Irrigatio ... index.html
Instead of the Daily Nation writing that a company awarded the tender has been blacklisted by 6 MDBs, it decides to sensationalize the story by calling the matter a “Sh19bn dam scandal”. Very unfortunate.
The Daily Nation continues: “Just last month, the Nation uncovered a similar scandal at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), where another blacklisted company, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), was awarded a Sh40 billion tender to construct the Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT).”
Section 41 B of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act says, “the board shall debar a person from participating in procurement... on the ground that the person has committed an offence relating to procurement under any other Act or law of Kenya or any other jurisdiction.”
Because of the way the world is at the moment, adding or any other jurisdiction in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act is wrong.
A company can be blacklisted in another jurisdiction due to politics, business rivalry, or pure malice. For example, Huawei has been blacklisted in certain jurisdictions because the Global Mafia is angry that they don’t have a backdoor to current Huawei equipment.
Is it then not in Kenya’s interest to award a tender to Huawei, despite their being blacklisted abroad?
“Any other jurisdiction” should only be considered when awarding government tenders if and only if the entity financing the project have it as a requirement eg. If World Bank is financing a project, then obviously, any company they have blacklisted cannot be awarded the tender (whether the blacklisting was done fairly or not).
Today’s Daily Nation has this article: “Then, as I started reading the article, I realized it is all FAKE NEWS. Shame on you, the Daily Nation.
“A Chinese firm awarded a Sh19 billion tender to construct Lowaat Dam in Turkana County had been blacklisted by six multilateral development banks (MDBs) at the time the National Irrigation Board (NIB) invited bids for the project.”
https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Irrigatio ... index.html
Instead of the Daily Nation writing that a company awarded the tender has been blacklisted by 6 MDBs, it decides to sensationalize the story by calling the matter a “Sh19bn dam scandal”. Very unfortunate.
The Daily Nation continues: “Just last month, the Nation uncovered a similar scandal at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), where another blacklisted company, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), was awarded a Sh40 billion tender to construct the Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT).”
Section 41 B of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act says, “the board shall debar a person from participating in procurement... on the ground that the person has committed an offence relating to procurement under any other Act or law of Kenya or any other jurisdiction.”
Because of the way the world is at the moment, adding or any other jurisdiction in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act is wrong.
A company can be blacklisted in another jurisdiction due to politics, business rivalry, or pure malice. For example, Huawei has been blacklisted in certain jurisdictions because the Global Mafia is angry that they don’t have a backdoor to current Huawei equipment.
Is it then not in Kenya’s interest to award a tender to Huawei, despite their being blacklisted abroad?
“Any other jurisdiction” should only be considered when awarding government tenders if and only if the entity financing the project have it as a requirement eg. If World Bank is financing a project, then obviously, any company they have blacklisted cannot be awarded the tender (whether the blacklisting was done fairly or not).