Nairobi governor Evans Kidero appeared to trash a Sh4.6 billion deal that he signed last year with Chinese carmaker Foton for supply of high-capacity buses.
In a statement, Mr Kidero maintained that the deal he signed with the Chinese firm did not have any legal effect.
“The document in question, the Strategic Framework Agreement for Nairobi Public Transportation Improvement Programme remains that, a framework. It creates no legal
obligations on either party and no money was committed by the Nairobi county government, nor was it ever contemplated that any money would be committed,” he said, adding that any specific agreements would have been subjected to procurement rules.
The EACC is investigating claims that Mr Kidero presided over a deal where county officials may have side stepped public procurement rules to hand-pick Foton for City decongestion project.
Last year, City Hall said the MoU with Foton would pave the way for the supply of the first 266 buses for the planned metro transportation system, attracting protests from local motor vehicle assemblers who felt they were unfairly locked out.
The investment was to be the first phase of 2,000 buses that Foton was expected to deliver in five years.
Foton initially said it had not decided whether to assemble the buses locally or import ready-made units from China.
Source: Business Daily
