News

BY ALBERT MURIUKI

Treasury yesterday moved to allay fears that ongoing preparations for the sale of Safaricom shares had been endangered by premature opening of one of the bid documents.

Investment Secretary Esther Koimett promised to issue a statement. "I am not allowed to comment on this at the moment, but we will inform the public of what happened at the right time;' she said ..She was responding to an exclusive report in yesterday's edition of Business Daily that financial bids for one of the legal consortia had been opened before its due date.

The move prompted Treasury to convene an urgent meeting of all bidders to avert possible nullification of the tender. Under the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, "anyone who opens a sealed bid, including such bids as may be submitted through the electronic system and any document required to be sealed, or divulge their contents prior to the appointed time for the public opening of the bid or documents is guilty of an offence:'

Safaricom's is considered the most lucrative legal advisory services tender ever offered in East Africa and intense battling for a piece of the cake is suspected to be behind the unprecedented action.

The biding, for offering legal services, has traditionally been a fiercely contested sector.

During the tendering for the Kenya Re IPO, the winning legal consortium had less than two points against its closest rival.