CBK GIVEN GREENLIGHT TO PRINT NEW MONEY.

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BY SAM ALFAN.

The High court  has declined to stop the process of opening tenders for printing new Kenya currency which is set for today.

This means Central Bank of Kenya can now go ahead and open tenders for printing new design for Kenyan Currency.

Central Bank of Kenya has accused De La Rue for not disclosing all material and facts before the court.

It is grounds of opposition CBK says that the procurement process of currency banknotes commenced in the year 2014 following an advertisement for prequalification of suppliers for production on Banknote Origination Material and Currency printing services.

Lawyer Ochieng Oduol for CBK dismissed claims by De La Rue that the tender started in 2017.

Oduol told the court that De La Rue were not pre-qualified to tender nor invited to submit tenders or participate in the issued tender Number CBK37/2017-2018.

Oduol further submitted that the tender documents is a confidential document that is protected by section 67 of the public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act and therefore it cannot be disclosed except by an order of the court.

He claimed that the petitioners illegally obtained the tender Document in breach of the CBK right to privacy and the privacy of its communication with the pre-qualified tenders under Article 31 of the Constitution.

“The production of the Tender Document is in violation of sections 35 and 80 of the Evidence Act and is inadmissible as evidence in the present proceedings, “argues Oduol

The documents filed at the court CBK claim that the petitioners did not apply for pre-qualifications despite their knowledge of the same and therefore have no locus to challenge the procurement process.

CBK has asked the court to strike out the petition adding that the procurement process was fair, transparent, competitive and legal in accordance with the law.

“The respondents stands to fail to deliver on its constitutional mandate to Kenyan public, suffer serious and irreparable mandate to the Kenyan public, suffer losses, massive irreparable damage to the economy that cannot be atoned to in monetary terms,”reads court documents.

CBK says that the application filed before the court has been filed in gross abuse and that the currency printing tender process is security sensitive and strictly bound.

In the case Currency printing firms De LA Rue and De LA Rue Kenya EPZ Ltd moved to court challenging the Central Bank move of inviting tenders from foreign firms to print the new design Kenyan currency.

In the petition, they want the court to stop the tendering process pending determination of the case on grounds that the move will lead to irreparable harm to the local industry

They have accused the CBK of unlawfully restricting the tender process to foreign entities in violation of mandatory requirements guiding the procurement process.

They further argued that there is an increased national security risk in allowing the tender to proceed in its current form without due consideration given to the benefit of local production as well as destruction of the old notes.

De La Rue Kenya CEO, Ian Davies, argues that the law requires all public bodies including CBK to conduct a procurement process that is fair, equitable, transparent, and competitive and cost-effectiveness,” Davies said.

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