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ELDORET UKULIMA HOUSING TENANTS WELFARE GROUPP.O. Box 895 ELDORETThe Public Procurement Oversight Authority 30th April 201410th FloorNational Bank of Kenya BuildingHarambee AvenueP.O. Box 58535-00200, Nairobi, Kenya?Dear Sir/MadamRE: BLATANT DISCRIMINATION IN THE TENDERINGPROCESS AND ILLEGAL CANCELLATION OF THE TENDER AWARD: TENDER NO.UCSCS /02/ 2015(TENDER FOR SALE OF UKULIMA SACCO SOCIETY LIMITED HOUSES IN ELDORET)References are made to the aforementioned subject matter with scores of reservations and we wish to address you as hereunder;We members of ELDORET UKULIMA HOUSING TENANTS WELFARE GROUP strongly feels that, we have been unlawfully and fraudulently denied the tender award of the said houses and our constitutional rights to housing have been grossly violated by unscrupulous businessmen and politicians.We are apprehensive that unless you urgently intervene and solve this unjustifiable tendering process which was characterized by; opaqueness, corruption, and shrewdness, we are likely to be rendered homeless and our fundamental rights as anchored in our law books prejudiced by highly placed individuals who are hell-bent to disenfranchise our rights to tender freely and own through; the power of purchase, the houses aforementioned notwithstanding the plight of our families and children. We reiterate that, we are not only willing but also ready to purchase the houses which currently are under our possession as tenants; this was demonstrated in our successful bid which was later cancelled arbitrarily.What we are praying for is equal opportunity in the tendering processes as dictated by our laws and rules of tendering. Ethics dictates that business be conducted with integrity, fairness, and openness, which require open communication within and among both buying and supplying organizations, ensuring a competitive procurement, and thereby give any organization a chance to compete for contracts and win. The drafters of the constitution of Kenya were not wrong to insert an article envisioned to protect vulnerable groups like us, which we hereby accentuate for your ease of reference;40. PROTECTION OF RIGHT TO PROPERTY (1) Subject to Article 65, every person has the right, either individually or in association with others, to acquire and own property--(a) Of any description; and (b) in any part of Kenya.(2) Parliament shall not enact a law that permits the State or any person--(a) to arbitrarily deprive a person of property of any description or of any interest in, or right over, any property of any description; or(b) to limit, or in any way restrict the enjoyment of any right under this Article on the basis of any of the grounds specified or contemplated in Article 27 (4).(3) The State shall not deprive a person of property of any description, or of any interest in, or right over, property of any description, unless the deprivation--(a) results from an acquisition of land or an interest in land or a conversion of an interest in land, or title to land, in accordance with Chapter Five; or(b) is for a public purpose or in the public interest and is carried out in accordance with this Constitution and any Act of Parliament that--(i) requires prompt payment in full, of just compensation to the person; and(ii) allows any person who has an interest in, or right over, that property a right of access to a court of law.This notwithstanding article(s) 27,We are tenants of the said houses in the property situated within Eldoret Rural Housing Estate a few metres to the west of Huruma sub-district Hospital. Late last year Ukulima Sacco hurriedly placed an advertisement for sale of the houses in the local dailies, so that they would get us flat-footed. There has been a systematic move by local politicians and a local businessman, who is currently the agent that collects rent for Ukulima Sacco, namely Highland Valuers Ltd. It is worth noting that at that time we also wrote an urgent letter to PPOA and other government institutions challenging the validity of the tender and the tender was subsequently cancelled only for Ukulima Sacco to, once again re-advertise the tender, discreetly earlier this month. As I will demonstrate this tendering process has been an open fraud from the word go and Ukulima Sacco did not, even once, approach us and even give us an opportunity to accept to purchase or reject the offer. From the onset, forces have been at play to forcibly snatch the houses from us and make us and our families destitute. As we speak we have been given A MONTH to vacate the premises failure to which we will be evicted under duress in the presence of the police. Who has the power to mobilize the police if not a politically correct individual???FACTS WORTH NOTING:We were the highest bidders at Kshs. 152,000,000/- in a group of FOUR (4) groups that submitted bids.We had the highest bid bond for Kshs. 3,040,000/-Highland Valuers Ltd came a distant second with Kshs. 127,000,000/-Highland Valuers Ltd are the landlords of Sirikwa Hotel making Ukulima Sacco Ltd their tenantsUkulima Sacco Ltd has cited failure to attach Memorandum & Articles of Association which is ONLY a requirement if a group is a limited company & anyway no such stipulation was mentioned in the Tender documents (NB. Annexed Tender documents or download them: the Tender committee said that our Bid-Bond was a photocopy, a reason that does not hold any water considering the distance we had to travel and the short time frame that we had to put together all the required supporting documents. It is my humble submission that a Tender Committee is tasked with the responsibility of due diligence, it’s their mandate that all documents presented are authentic and above board. An individual can also present cheques that are not valid so in the same breath the Tender Committee should verify the availability of funds in a particular account.Not forgetting the fact that it was an open tender and individuals within and without the country were eligible, meaning a Kenyan in the Diaspora or a foreign investor would be allowed to compete. Does that mean that, such an individual should personally come to Kenya so as to present “original” documents???? Sirikwa Hotel was responsible for all the outside catering when members of Ukulima Sacco converged on the property situated within Eldoret Rural Housing Estate. As I mentioned earlier Highland Valuers are the owners of Sirikwa Hotel which is a direct conflict of interest.Immediately the Tender documents were submitted, even before the results were communicated to us, Highland Valuers Ltd started issuing ultimatums and intimidating us by giving us a month to vacate the premises failure to which they would bring the police onboard and force us out.The other Groups that had that had expressed interest but who were far off the mark were:High MarkJamkamWithout fear of contradiction I wish to state that Highland Valuers were in bed with Ukulima Sacco and the playing field was so uneven in favor of Highland Valuers.Kenya’s impunity culture cannot be fully resolved by the courts. Kenyans bear the responsibility of electing a political leadership that has a track record against impunity and they must consistently hold that leadership to account. They must be eternally vigilant and proactively protect and promote their rights collectively and as individuals. Moreover, we must collectively begin to interrogate our role in bringing about the kind of change we often demand. It’s time for Kenyans to stop asking what Dr. Mutunga can or will do for them, but what they can do to help him in his role for Kenya’s collective good.It goes without saying that PPOA should immediately, without further ado stop the awarding of the Tender to Highland Valuers and cancel the Tender as underhand tactics have been employed to ensure that we do not take possession of the said houses. We hope that you will act on time and rescue us from the jaws of these agents of impunity. Yours faithfullyFor: ELDORET UKULIMA HOUSING TENANTS WELFARE GROUPDr. OkwaroVice ChairmanCONTACT NUMBERS:Chairman: 0722-380080Vice Chairman: 0707-187951Secretary General: 0734-800177Treasurer: 0721-221559Chief Whip: 0722-666876Cc. His Excellency the PresidentHis Excellency the Deputy PresidentThe Honorable Chief JusticeThe OmbudsmanThe Honorable Attorney GeneralDirector of Public ProsecutionEthics & Anti-Corruption CommissionKituo Cha SheriaKenya National Human Rights CommissionKenya Commission for Human RightsThe Speaker of the National AssemblyCabinet Secretary - Ministry of Land, Housing & Urban DevelopmentThe Chief Editor Daily NationThe Chief Editor Standard NewspaperThe Chief Editor The Star Newspaper ................
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