CORPORATE INTELLIGENCE AFRICA ISSUE 0024 | Page 38

BUSINESS / COMMERCE

NCPB maize saga: What went wrong?
By Simon Mbuthia

T

he National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

was of essence. The period of the duty was short and the government wanted maize imported to avert serious shortage,” explained former NCPB boss, Tirop Kosgey, when he appeared before the Public Investment Committee. However, Erad never delivered the agreed amount of maize and NCPB cancelled the contract, leading to a legal tussle. When the contract backfired, Erad took their client to court demanding compensation. The High Court awarded them Ksh521 million for breach of contract. To rub it in, Erad moved to court to attach property of NCPB after the latter objected the amount awarded by the High Court. The Office of the Attorney General has distanced itself from the mess, heaping blames on NCPB on grounds that it was not consulted before the deal was signed as required by law. “The AG was never involved at the

Workers at NCPB store.

beginning. We were only called to intervene by the Ministry of Special Programmes when Erad threatened to auction NCPB’s property last year,” said Deputy Solicitor General Muthoni Kimani. She added that the AG was not involved in the arbitration between the NCPB and Erad even though government agencies are not supposed to enter into deals worth Ksh50 million and above without clearance from the AG. “NCPB came to us many times trying to save the situation when things had become difficult. We came in at a very late stage. We came in when things had gone terribly wrong,” added Mrs Kimani. However, there have been different twists to the NCPB woes with prominent people appearing to have a hand here and there. Judicial Service Commission member Ahmednassir Abdullahi was drawn to the mess following allegations that he used his position to influence the outcome of

. A parliamentary committee has already commenced an inquiry into a controversial contract that has pushed NCPB to the brink over a maize supply cancelled contract. Trouble started when NCPB signed a contract with Erad Contactors to supply 18,000 tonnes of maize to counter the 2004 drought, which the parastatal says was never delivered. The tender and evaluation committee of the board relied on the credibility of two Erad directors in awarding the contract, choosing not to conduct any investigation on the suppliers before signing th HX[?8?'\?H?\???[YH???X????[??X????X?]\?H[YB?????H???UHS?SQ?S??HQ??P?H??UU?UUU?HS?VS??U?H?T?S?T??S??Q???????]Z[?[Y?[??XY??X?K??]??