Nairobi County Attorney unable to explain Sh47 billion Dandora Waste to Energy tender deal
The Dandora Waste to Energy and the Eastleigh Market PPPs were termed controversial and illegal by committee members.
The mystery around the Sh47 billion Dandora Waste to Energy project continues to grow after Nairobi City County Acting Attorney failed to acknowledge the existence of a Public Private Partnership between the county and a private developer who was awarded the contract.
This emerged on Thursday afternoon when the Acting County Secretary Christine Ireri and Finance Chief Executive Charles Kerich were hard pressed by the Justice and Legal Committee on the growing appetite for PPPs where the county is signing agreements without involving the county assembly.
The committee had asked the county officials to table all agreements related to PPPs that have been signed by the county.The officials were unable to produce any credible documents to explain why the county has resorted into signing of PPPs without following due process.
Top on the list as per the committee is the Sh47 billion Dandora Waste to Energy Project whose tender was awarded in July 2023 under unclear circumstances.
The tender award award was stoped after being challenged in court.
The Acting CA acknowledged that she is aware of an existing law that guides signing of PPPs between counties and private investors but was unable to confirm if there is any PPP between Nairobi County and a private developer in regard to Dandora Waste to Energy project.
” I am not aware of any PPP that the county government of Nairobi has entered into but I understand that any PPP project must be procured under the PPP Act 2021.
The committee through its chairman had inquired if the county assembly has any role to play before a county enters into a PPP agreement and the county attorney confirmed that Indeed that is well covered for in law
“The involvement of the county assembly is provided for under section 64 subsection 5 of the PPP Act,” she added.
Majority leader Peter Imwatok disagreed with Ireri and explained that section 65 of the Act was authoritative on the role of the county assembly on signing of PPPs and the private sector.
The County Attorney is misleading the committee because section 65 states that subject to section 64 any county government intending to enter into a PPP must seek approval from the County Assembly,” he stated.
The committee chairman Jared Akama said he is aware of atleast 6 PPPs singed by the county without the involvement of the County Assembly.
The Dandora Waste to Energy and the Eastleigh Market PPPs were termed controversial and illegal by committee members.
Governor Sakaja is believed to have fallen out with former County Attorney Lydia Kwamboka who had reportedly advised against signing of the Dandora PPP which relevant authorities believe was irregularly awarded to a Chinese firm.
The Dandora project, according to governance expert Eliud Wekesa who commented on the issue back in August 2023 is illegal because there was no public participation, goes against the procurement laws and is against regulations of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
“This one is a direct illegality and any one who moves to court will easily stop it,” the officer said.
The project attracted alot of attention after Kenyans wrote various complaints to PPRA. and various lobby groups.Some of the 36 pre qualified companies complained that the process had already been pre-determined in favour of the Chinese company.
Despite all concerns, the County proceeded to award the tender under Ref NCC/RM/VOL.358/ITEM.NO.01/287/A./3882/2022-2023 dated 25th July 2023.
Information from the County Website indicates that on 2nd August 2024,Nairobi City County Chief Officer in charge of Environment Mr. Hibrahim Otieno confirmed the Dandora project was still on.
“It is the first time we have gotten to a position we could say we have moved further than in any other administration in the waste to energy project,”
The officer said that the process began way back in 2013 but this is the first time the county was negotiation stage.
The Chief Officer went on to mention that the plant is a Public- Private Partnership project that will help tackle the issue of solid waste management in Nairobi.
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