PPDA orders Tororo Municipal Council to cancel Taxi Park tender

By Billy Rwothungeyo               

The procurement process for service providers for the management and collection of revenue from taxi and bus parks in Tororo Municipality has hit a snag after the intervention of the public procurement regulator.

The Public Procurement & Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has recommended that Tororo Municipal Council cancels the procurement process for the deal, whose estimated cost is sh217m annually.

Background

In March last year, Tororo Municipal Council took out an advert in the New Vision inviting bids for the management and collection of revenue from the taxi and bus parks.

On June 4, 2014, the municipal council’s town clerk suspended the procurement process, after one of the bidders cried foul.

The administrative review ended up at PPDA after more complaints from DOCTA Cooperative Savings and Credit Society, one of the firms that put in a bid.

EETTA Cooperative Savings and Credit Society, Tororo Taxi and Bus Operators Cooperative Society and DOCTA Cooperative Savings and Credit Society have been involved in a 'war' for the lucrative deal of managing the taxi and bus parks.

At last year’s Public Procurement Baraza in Tororo, the first of its kind in the country, the taxi and bus procurement process was one of the hot issues during the public dialogue.

Accusations of unfairness, corruption, political interference and unfairness were traded during the event.

Irregularities

The regulator then instituted investigations into the procurement process, and found so many irregularities were found out.

PPDA discovered major flaws with the documentation presented by the competing bidders and member belonging to the warring firms.

“The Authority noted that M/s EETTA Cooperative Savings and Credit Society submitted photocopies of passport photographs contrary to ITB 4 of the solicitation document and five members were registered both in M/s DOCTA Cooperative Savings and Credit Society and M/s EETTA Cooperative Savings and Credit Society contrary to MOLG Guidelines (May 2012),” the audit report says.

The investigation also discovered irregularities with the certificate submitted by Tororo Taxi/Bus Operators Society Ltd.

“The Certificate of Registration of M/s Tororo Taxi/Bus Operators Society Ltd shows that the association was registered on 11th May 2012 and was scheduled to expire on 11th May 2014. The Entity received bids on 29th April 2014 before the expiry of the Certificate of Registration submitted by M/s Tororo Taxi/Bus Operators Society Ltd. However, it expired during the bidding process,” the report says.

Tororo Municipal will have to start the procurement process for service providers for the man and collection of revenue from taxi and bus parks afresh.