By Vision Reporter

SEYANI Brothers company has explained their role in the street lighting project that was undertaken in Kampala and Entebbe ahead of the November 2007 Commonwealth meeting.

The Auditor General, in a report, queried the bidding process for the lighting contract that was eventually taken by Dott Services.

Seyani Brothers, in a statement signed by Siyani Manish, the company’s finance and investment director, yesterday said they submitted bids for consideration on the official date with bid securities of sh50m for each of their three bids.

Manish said the tenders were officially opened immediately after submission and his company representative was present at the opening.

He said the company was invited for discussion for one of the bids it won and the agenda was the reduction in the scope of work, completion time and advance payment terms.

The minutes of the meeting, Manish said, were never delivered to them, and despite a reminder to the works ministry, they never received any feedback.

“Our bid securities were still valid as per the stipulated validity period, but we did not hear from the ministry after our revised submission. Moreover, we saw in the newspapers that Dott Services had been contracted to undertake the works.”

The public accounts committee recently recommended that Seyani be blacklisted for causing financial loss to the Government.

The company denied that it withdrew prematurely from the bidding process to pave way for Dott Services.

MPs alleged that the bid was stage-managed to ensure that Dott Services got the contract at uncompetitive rates.
The committee also sought to establish if the company forfeited its sh50m bid security for irregularly withdrawing its bid, and if not, the money should be recovered.