The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has addressed concerns about a recent auction exercise where participants complained about fraudulent bidding. In a statement on Tuesday, February 8, the Authority confirmed that its auction held on February 7, 2024, was marred with fraud complaints.
“It has come to the attention of the authority that some members of the public frustrated the auction of select items in the just concluded auction process. It reads mischief in the select bidders offer since they have not honoured their bids,” KeNHA said in a public notice yesterday.
According to the state agency, scores of Kenyans who bid for items including vehicles during a recent auction by a roads agency now risk losing their KES 60,000 deposit.
“In compliance with the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Regulations (PPADR), the said bidder will lose their auction deposit of KES 60,000. The items in question will be processed for a fresh auction.”
During the auction conducted at KeNHA’s Corridor ‘A’ offices in Athi River, participants were provided with the chance to evaluate the available items and their respective reserve prices as per the established guidelines.
However, some bidders failed to honour their quoted bids as required and hence raised suspicion about transparency in the process.
The items in question will be processed for a fresh auction. and KeNHA assured that the repeat of the process would be done in compliance with guidelines governing procurement process to ensure transparency, fairness, and adherence to the set regulations.