Two logistics firms have appealed to the High Court to overturn a procurement board decision that upheld Kenya National Examination Council’s (Knec) award of a national exams distribution tender to a rival company, amid warnings the dispute could disrupt national tests scheduled to begin next month.
Mitchel Cotts Freight Kenya Limited and Fintech Edge Co. Ltd want the High Court to set aside a decision of the Public Procurement Review Board (PPRB) to throw away their request for review of the tender won by Africa Global Logistics Kenya Limited.
They are dissatisfied with the decision of the PPARB to dismiss their case and the backing of the (Knec).
Lawyer Justus Omollo, representing Knec, on Thursday warned in court that the legal tussle risks disrupting the timely delivery of exam materials to schools.
The contract was to be awarded to Africa Global Logistics, but the process was halted following the legal challenge initiated by Mitchel and Fintech at PPARB and subsequently in court.
The pair had jointly bid for the tender dubbed “Provision of End-to-End Integrated Logistics System and Related Services During Administration of Examinations and Assessments”.
However, their Joint Venture (JV) bid was disqualified at the technical evaluation stage for various reasons, including failure to provide recommendation letters from their clients addressed to Knec chief executive officer with contract or local purchase orders (LPOs) attached as evidence.
According to the PPRB’s ruling dated July 25, 2025, their bid was found to be non-responsive, having attained a score of 45 percent against the minimum required threshold of 75 per cent. Conversely, the bid by Africa Global Logistics attained a score of 84 percent and was accordingly found to be responsive.
Mitchel and Fintech moved to the PPRAB seeking orders for nullification of the procurement proceedings on grounds that Knec breached the Constitution and the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.
But the Board, chaired by lawyer George Murugu found that Knec properly and fairly evaluated the JV tender by the evaluation criteria set out in the Tender Document and the provisions of the Act.
It ruled that the disqualification of the JV at the technical evaluation stage was lawful and justified.
In the contested ruling, the Board noted that the JV of Mitchel and Fintech failed to comply with applicable evaluation criteria, which required bidders to submit three past or current contracts, each with a contract sum of not less than Sh20 million.
The documents were supposed to be supported by certified copies of contracts or Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) issued within the last five years, as well as recommendation letters from the respective clients addressed to Knec.
“Upon review, the Board observes that the applicant did not strictly comply with this requirement, as it only submitted recommendation letters without attaching the requisite certified contracts or LPOs,” said the Board.
Another finding was that the JV violated a clause of the Tender Document by submitting a work plan belonging to a company called Benir Global Limited, which was not part of the Joint Venture.
“The Board further observes that the applicant submitted documents belonging to Benir Global Limited, a subcontractor that was not a party to the Joint Venture. Accordingly, such documents could not be considered in evaluating the Applicant’s compliance with the tender requirements,” said the Board, restating that the bid was evaluated by the criteria set out in the Tender Document.
It found that while the JV was not required to submit independent qualifications for each of its members, it could not rely on the qualifications or documents of third parties, such as subcontractors who were not part of the Joint Venture.
The Board further dismissed claims that the bid by Africa Global was submitted outside the stipulated deadline of June 17, 2025 at 10am. They had alleged that Knec altered the tender submission time from 10am to 4pm, a move that they argued was irregular, unlawful, and unprocedural.
“The Board finds that the allegation concerning irregularities in the extension of the tender submission deadline is time-barred, having been raised outside the 14-day statutory period prescribed under Section 167 of the Act. In any event, the Board notes that a valid addendum was duly issued and served upon both the applicant and the interested party (Africa Global Logistics), clearly indicating the extension of the submission deadline,” it ruled.
Other members of the Board who handled the application were Stanslaus Kimani and Alexander Musau.
The case is scheduled for hearing on October 10, 2025 at the High Court in Milimani before Justice John Chigiti.
