Image courtesy Scale Blog

In the four years 2018 to 2022, 43,195 tenders for contacts from state agencies were advertised. Of which, 25,674 were issued at a total value of Sh577.07 billion.

So, were these lucrative contracts spread across hundreds or even thousands of companies? Not a bit of it.

Data released from the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) reveals that just 10 companies were awarded tenders worth Sh220.9 billion by State agencies. Nearly half of the value for new contracts were given to just 10 companies.

In total, the ten suppliers were awarded 1,025 contracts, 38 percent of all contracts published.

The PPRA’s data was drawn from tenders issued by government ministries and departments, parastatals, counties, public universities, commissions, Parliament, the Judiciary, public schools and colleges.

Leading the list were Minet Kenya Insurance Brokers provide insurance cover for the Teachers Services Commission to provide insurance cover for over 350,000 teachers.

The top companies (with the value of the contracts they won):

1. Minet Insurance Brokers Limited (Sh50.7billion).
2. Frontier Engineering limited (Sh48.35 billion)
3. M & J Holdings Limited (Sh19.98 billion)
4. China Jiangxi International Kenya (Sh19.98 billion)
5. North Street Cooling Tower (P) Limited (Sh16.1 billion)
6. Peminje Holdings Limited (Sh16.1 billion)
7. China State Construction Engineering Corp (Kenya) (Sh11.9t billion)
8. China State Construction Engineering Company (Sh9.45 billion)
9. West Travel & Tour Limited (Sh7.97 billion)
10. Value Zone Limited (Sh7 billion)

Enhance transparency

Quoted in the Business Daily, Institute of Public Finance CEO James Muraguri stated that the PPRA report highlights the gaps in adherence to public procurement and asset disposal by State entities.

“Moving forward, the government could enhance it transparency efforts by making the beneficial ownership register publicly available as done in other countries like Ghana, and implement enforcement measures for information provision through the PPIP portal as part of the Access to information initiatives,” James Muraguri told the Business Daily.