MUHURI wants 10 companies that control billions of government tenders disclosed

Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI) has today issued a statement demanding the government to make public the names of companies that control billions of government tenders. MUHURI also wants the names of owners of the companies made public and the reason why they are favored. Below is the complete press release

Disclosure of Companies behind billions of Government Tenders

A damning report in the Business Daily on January 16th, 2024, exposed disturbing patterns in Kenya's government tender system, raising serious concerns about opaqueness and accountability.

Data obtained from the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) revealed that a mere 10 companies bagged a staggering Sh220.9 billion in contracts over a four-year period (June 2018 – June 2022). This amounts to nearly 40% of the Sh577.07 billion total value of tenders awarded by state agencies during that timeframe.

This alarming concentration of contracts raises critical questions:

• Who are these 10 privileged companies?
• Who owns them and who sits on their boards?
• Why have they been consistently favored for nearly four years, securing almost two-fifths of all
• state tenders?
• Are they simply "special" beyond competition, or are there deeper, hidden forces at play?

Kenyans demand transparency and accountability. We need the identities of these companies, their ownership structures, and the rationale behind their dominance in public procurement to be made public immediately.

Furthermore, we propose a crucial reform: mandatory public disclosure of information for all national and county government projects. This includes project details, awarded contractors, and contract values.