CC image courtesy of Lubuto Library Project on Flickr
Kenyan cabinet secretary for education Jacob Kaimenyi has said he will not quit over the cancellation of the award of the tender for the supply of devices for Kenya’s laptops for schools programme, instead warning members of the committee responsible they face the sack.
HumanIPO reported yesterday parliament’s Education, Science and Technology Committee said it was preparing a motion to censure Kaimenyi for withholding information on the procurement of the laptops, after the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) revoked the award of the tender to Indian firm Olive Telecommunications, excluding it from the process for not meeting tender requirements.
In response for calls for him to resign, Business Daily reports Kaimenyi told a press briefing he would not quit and that members of the laptops tender committee instead faced losing their jobs should any wrongdoings be revealed by an internal investigation.
“We will do a postmortem and take action on any officer found guilty. We will not condone corruption or allow such costly mistakes,” Kaimenyi said.
“I don’t see justification in someone asking for my resignation; however if anyone has evidence that I benefited from the tendering I am prepared to be taken to court. I don’t sit in the tendering committee and we relied on the information provided by the ministerial tendering committee members who are the experts.”
The cabinet secretary said the ministry does not plan to contest the PPRAB ruling, but is instead seeking legal advice on if it can establish a new tendering committee.
