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{
    "id": 523405,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/523405/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 385,
        "legal_name": "Simon Ogari Arama",
        "slug": "simon-ogari"
    },
    "content": "Yes. They belong to regulations. Even after regulations, we still have what we call tender documents. That includes instructions to tenderers, the conditions of tendering and the conditions of contract. That is where you specifically point out the method you are going to use and how it runs. We cannot go through all this since we might have to come for an amendment to add another new method which may crop from other jurisdictions. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am about to finish. Finally, there are clauses I want us to look at individually. One of them is 69 (c) and (b) which requires that issues of estimated costs be publicised. To be fair and just to all the tenderers, estimated cost can only be disclosed during tendering. It is 69(6) (b). Estimated cost is what is being abused all over. It is good my colleague referred to tenders from Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) and the others where a few tenderers are informed of the estimated cost then you start tendering around those costs. I will therefore bring an amendment to make sure that if this clause goes through, because it is among those that I am proposing should go to regulations, the estimated cost should be revealed during the tendering stage together with the other figures. Now, there is a very controversial issue with Clause 81. It is a good avenue that has been used, is being used and shall be used for a lot of abuse. For those of my colleagues who are lawyers, I am sure you will support me. A tender is more like an offer to treat. If you have asked us to give tenders, knowing that the most substantive part of a tender is the money, and here we are talking about you as the procurement entity can amend an error and give me another figure which I did not submit when the other tenderers were there during the opening, that clause has been subject to a lot of abuse and I can give you an example. If tenderer “A” quotes Kshs20 million and tenderer “B” quotes Kshs15 million, then since I am allowed as a procurement entity to amend or correct that error because Kshs20 million is too high than Kshs15 million, what prevents me from colluding with the tenderer and actually pushing this figure to Kshs19 million? That is exactly what has been happening and as Quantity Surveyors, we have always been against how this came in. It was there in the earlier Act. However, I want you, as Members, to take the full import of this Bill. It is definitely one of those which must change if that part of the clause can go through. It is also one of those that I propose should go to regulations. That is very critical. If you have tendered your figure, the figure should remain. In any case, for those of us who do a lot of tendering for those contractors - because that is part of our job - those errors are normally intentional. We make errors intentionally, including when I give a discount. Professionally, a discount is an error for us because we did not ask you to give it. So, when we are doing the arithmetic check, we remove it because nobody asked you for it unless we have asked all the contractors to give a discount. When you have been given a document, your work is to put in the rates and the totals. However, when you have reached the end of the document, you realise you are a bit high and then you introduce an error so that you become a bit lower. That will help you to negotiate later on with the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}