In a high-stakes procurement dispute, APA Insurance Limited has contested the Ministry of Defence’s decision to award a lucrative Sh49.9 million aircraft insurance contract to Britam General Insurance.

The dispute centers around the ministry’s tender process for insuring President William Ruto’s official jet, with APA Insurance alleging procedural irregularities that it claims violate public procurement laws.

Britam General Insurance emerged as the lowest bidder in the restricted tender process for the VVIP Fokker aircraft insurance, quoting Sh49.9 million.

This competitive bid beat out APA Insurance’s quote of Sh50.8 million and MUA Insurance’s bid of Sh62.2 million, positioning Britam as the ministry’s preferred vendor.

However, APA Insurance, which previously held the contract for the aircraft’s coverage, contends that the Ministry of Defence failed to adhere to proper notification procedures in awarding the contract.

APA Insurance claims that it was not promptly notified of the tender outcome and that the notification letter it received lacked crucial details, such as the reason for its disqualification and specifics of the winning bid.

This, APA argues, violates Section 87 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, which mandates that unsuccessful bidders be informed of the results and reasons behind the selection of the successful bid.

According to APA’s legal counsel, the ministry’s notification letter was “defective,” as it did not specify the awardee’s details, contract amount, or any rationale for APA’s disqualification.

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