China Road and Bridge Corporation Loses a Sh29.8 Billion Rail Tender

The High Court in Nairobi has dismissed a legal challenge by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) regarding its exclusion from a Sh29.8 billion contract to construct a metre-gauge railway line between Rironi and Mau Summit. Justice Jairus Ngaah ruled that the Kenya Railways Corporation was justified in disqualifying the Chinese state-owned firm after it failed to provide a readable electronic copy of its financial proposal.

The dispute centered on a technical requirement in the tender documents that mandated bidders to submit both physical and electronic versions of their bids. While CRBC provided the necessary hard copies, the flash disk intended to contain the electronic version of the financial bid was found to be blank. This omission led the Kenya Railways evaluation committee to declare the bid non-responsive, a decision that has now been validated by the court.

CRBC had initially taken the matter to the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) after being informed of its disqualification. The firm argued that the physical documents should have taken precedence and that the blank flash drive was a minor technicality that could be corrected. However, the board sided with Kenya Railways, noting that the tender instructions were explicit about the submission of both format. Dissatisfied with the board’s conclusion, the construction firm moved to the High Court for a judicial review.

In its defense, Kenya Railways maintained that the procurement process required strict adherence to the Preliminary Evaluation criteria. The agency argued that allowing CRBC to submit a new flash disk or rely solely on hard copies would have compromised the integrity of the competitive bidding process and potentially opened the door for claims of unfairness from other participants. The project, which is part of a broader effort to rehabilitate and expand the national rail network, attracted several international firms.

Justice Ngaah, in his delivery, stated that the court found no evidence of irrationality or procedural unfairness in the decision made by the procurement board. He noted that the requirement for an electronic copy was a mandatory condition of the tender and that the failure to provide a functional one was a substantial breach of the rules. The judge emphasized that the court’s role in judicial review is to examine the legality of the process rather than the merits of the technical requirements themselves.

The loss of this contract is a setback for CRBC, a company that has historically dominated major infrastructure projects in Kenya, including the Standard Gauge Railway. The Rironi to Mau Summit section is considered a critical link for cargo transport toward western Kenya and the neighboring Great Lakes region. The project involves upgrading existing tracks and constructing new infrastructure to handle increased freight volumes.

With the legal hurdles cleared, Kenya Railways is expected to proceed with the award of the contract to the next-ranked bidder. Industry observers note that this ruling reinforces the strictness of Kenyan procurement laws, particularly concerning electronic documentation in multi-billion shilling tenders. The decision serves as a reminder to international contractors that technical compliance remains as critical as financial and engineering capacity in the Kenyan public works sector.

The Rironi-Mau Summit rail project is intended to complement the road expansion on the same corridor, which has faced its own share of delays. By integrating rail and road infrastructure, the government aims to reduce the cost of logistics along the Northern Corridor. The Ministry of Roads and Transport has previously indicated that modernizing the metre-gauge railway is a priority to ease pressure on the road network and lower maintenance costs.