Nairobi Railway City Hits Legal Snag as Sh7 Billion Tender Row Escalates

The Public Procurement Administrative Review Board has halted the award of a Sh30 billion tender for the Nairobi Railway City, citing significant illegalities in how the Kenya Railways Corporation handled the bidding process. This decision follows a successful challenge by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, which had submitted a bid of Sh7 billion lower than the selected firm, China Road and Bridge Corporation.

Evidence presented to the board revealed that the evaluation committee overlooked mandatory requirements during the financial stage. The petitioner argued that the winning bidder failed to provide an electronic copy of its financial proposal as specified in the tender documents. While the corporation defended its choice by citing technical scores, the board found the notification process and the subsequent award to be in breach of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.

This procurement friction coincides with growing political tension regarding the treatment of foreign contractors. Recent reports indicate that the deportation of certain Chinese directors has complicated the project's diplomatic and financial standing. Allegations have surfaced suggesting these removals were linked to a refusal to adjust project costs upward, a claim that has added a layer of controversy to the multi-billion shilling infrastructure plan.

The Nairobi Railway City is intended to be a flagship urban regeneration project, designed to modernise the capital's central rail hub. However, the requirement to re-evaluate bids means the project timeline is now under pressure. The review board has ordered a fresh evaluation of the qualifying bids, mandating that the process strictly adhere to the original tender criteria and constitutional requirements for transparency.

Legal representatives for the aggrieved bidders pointed out that treating mandatory breaches as minor deviations undermines the integrity of public infrastructure spending. The Sh7 billion price difference between the two primary contenders has become a focal point for critics who argue that the initial award failed the test of cost-effectiveness.

With the High Court also hearing separate petitions regarding the transparency of railway projects, the state faces increasing scrutiny over its procurement pipelines. For now, the site of the ambitious Railway City remains a landscape of legal filings rather than active construction, as the government moves to address the procedural failures identified by the regulatory board.