NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 10 – The IEBC KIEMS tender has returned to court, with an applicant seeking to quash three mandatory technical requirements upheld by the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB).
The matter was mentioned before Justice Musyoka today.
The applicant is challenging the PPARB decision of September 3, 2026, which dismissed its request for review and upheld three mandatory technical evaluation requirements contained in Tender No. IEBC/OIT/02/2026-2027.
The three requirements are Requirement No. 2 on similar experience, Requirement No. 3 on financial capacity and Requirement No. 4 on financial capability.
The applicant is seeking leave to apply for an order of certiorari to quash the PPARB decision to the extent that it upheld the three requirements.
It is also seeking an order of prohibition to stop the IEBC and other respondents from receiving, opening, evaluating or awarding the tender, or taking any further steps based on the three requirements as currently framed.
The applicant further wants the court to issue an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to reformulate the three requirements to reconcile the vendor-capacity qualification criteria with the mandatory local-content requirement in the tender document.
The applicant argues that the requirements should comply with Articles 10, 27 and 227 of the Constitution and Sections 3, 58(2), 60(1) and 70(3) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
The applicant is also seeking a stay of the September 3 PPARB decision, including an order extending the date and time for submission and opening of tenders, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
The latest challenge comes days after the procurement watchdog ordered IEBC to rectify and republish an earlier KIEMS tender after finding material deficiencies in some of its technical specifications and evaluation criteria.
The PPARB allowed in part a request for review filed by Galadirel Investments Limited against Tender No. IEBC/OIT/01/2026-2027 for the supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning, support and maintenance of the Integrated Elections Management System, hardware equipment and accessories.
The Board found deficiencies in the identification of applicable standards, requirements for international tenderers and the allocation of technical evaluation scores.
It also raised concerns over post-qualification and contract award provisions, requirements for demonstrating the qualifications of key personnel, and provisions on hardware and technology ownership.
The watchdog directed IEBC to make the necessary corrections and publish a new compliant tender document, giving prospective bidders at least seven days to consider the amendments and submit their bids.
The Board also found that a requirement for a performance security of 20 percent of the contract price for unbalanced tenders was contrary to the law, although IEBC said it had already corrected the requirement through an addendum.
Other complaints raised in the earlier case, including the Sh30 million tender security, exclusion of a margin of preference, tender quantities and scope, compatibility and interoperability requirements, and alleged tailoring of the tender in favour of Miru Systems Limited, were not proved.
The procurement proceedings in the earlier tender had been suspended after Galadirel Investments filed its request for review on August 14, 2026.
