‘Secret’ hiring of grain importer sparks row

Members of Parliament have clashed with Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani over the engagement of a second grain handler at the port of Mombasa.

The National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee Wednesday alleged a secret plot by Mr Yatani to engage a second grain handler without competitive bidding.

The committee in its report in November last year recommended the appointment of a second grain handler through a competitive and transparent process.

The MPs noted that the port of Mombasa had experienced exponential growth in grain imports, with wheat almost quadrupling.

However, the committee claims Treasury has started the process, which is shrouded in secrecy.

Yatani’s letter

The committee cites Mr Yatani’s letter dated June 25 to former Kenya Ports Authority boss Rashid Salim telling him to start the procurement process. Mr Rashid has since retired and Mr John Mwangemi has taken over in acting capacity.

In the letter, reference number TA/confidential/016/TI, Mr Yatani told the KPA MD to “expedite the [process] and report the progress to him within 30 days”.

Received complaints

In a meeting with Mr Yatani, the committee chaired by Homa Bay Woman Rep Gladys Wanga warned the CS against acting contrary to the recommendations of the report.

“The process should not be shrouded in secrecy. Let Kenyans know what is happening. We have received complaints that there are so many applications but no response,” Ms Wanga said.

“Our report recommended that the second grain handler should be recruited in a fair, open, transparent manner and adhere to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, we are not expecting anything less than that,” Ms Wanga warned.

Luanda MP Chris Omulele warned that Parliament will not be party to a procurement process done by Treasury without involvement of the House.

Sensitive matter

“This is a sensitive matter and, in the event that Treasury goes ahead and recruits secretly, then this parliament will stand up and protect the interest of the common man,” Mr Omulele said.

Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru said the matter has attracted immense public interest.

“The information that we have is that you have already renewed the licence of Grain Bulk Handlers for another 30 years. You plan is to wait and later come here to tell us that the matter is now water under the bridge and there is nothing we can do about it,” said Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabir. With grain handling at the port projected to grow by seven percent annually, MPs concurred that there is need to licence more operators but hastened the recruitment process.

Mr Yatani told MPs that he was not aware of the letter the committee was talking about but admitted that there have been engagements with KPA over a second grain handler.

“We have written several letters to KPA. I’m not therefore sure which one you are talking about,” Mr Yatani.

Competitive process

The CS said the process will be competitive and that anyone who will not be satisfied with the eventual winner can seek recourse in the courts.

Grain Bulk Handlers Limited (GBHL) handles 98 per cent of the grain imported into the country.

GBHL is a private company incorporated in 2000 to undertake freight and forwarding services with a speciality in cereal handling. The company owns and operates a specialised discharge and handling terminal for grain imports.

Among the services it provides is discharge of bulk grain vessels, delivery to road and rail in bulk and bags and warehousing for bagged cargo.

Several companies such as Kapa Oil Refinery, Africa Ports and Terminals, Multiship International and Kipevu Inland Container EPZ Limited have already expressed an interest to be the second grain handlers.

The committee has scheduled another meeting with Mr Yatani, while insisting that Mr Mwangemi should also be in attendance.

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