Wildlife PS Sylvia Museiya On The Spot Over The Dubious Cancellation Of Sh6.7M Tender

Trouble looms for Sylvia Museiya, Principal Secretary State Department for Wildlife following the cancellation of a tender awarded to a vetted firm . The PS who’s said to be the supremo in the ministry domiciled in the Tourism ministry is now being criticized for going against the advice of the tendering committee.

At the heart of the matter is the Review of Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill 2023 tender that was unceremoniously cancelled by the PS and who’s yet to give the reasons behind her dubious decision.

The consultancy tender was advertised in My Gov Newspaper by the State Department, on May 16, 2023 and closed on May 30, 2023 at 11am with the tender bids being opened immediately.

From tender evaluation and according to documents seen Kenya Insights, 5 companies submitted their bids with only three qualifying for the evaluation stage.

Munyao Muthama and Kashindi Advocates, with the lowest bid of Sh6.9 million and highest overall technical and financial score of 79.91, was awarded the tender by the committee.

The losing financial proposals included on by Institute for Research and Policy Alternatives, with the second highest overall score of 76.6, which had submitted a bid of Sh9 million.

The other losing bidder, K N Mburu and Associates, submitted a quote of Sh10.8 million and had received an overall combined score of 69.02, the third highest score.

But in her reply to an internal memo from Supply Chain Management Services Head Justus Areri dated August 21, 2023, Museiya cancelled the award of the tender raising suspicions of a preferred outcome.

“Cancel the tender based on the presidential directives where all natural resources based departments including wildlife are first supposed to develop a conservation policy from which all other laws are to emanate,” she wrote on the memo by Areri.

The members of the tendering committee, who all signed off on the final professional opinion on the concluded procurement process, were left scratching their heads on the unprecedented decision.

Critics say the PS is running the office like a household. Incidentally, the former Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director-General Brigadier (Rtd) John Waweru was axed almost immediately after the PS took office and many believed she issued the orders.

Museiya’s profile has not been without controversy before. She was nominated MCA in Nairobi County in which she was ardent supporter of Ex-Governor Mike Sonko whom she also defiantly supported and defended during his impeachment trials over corruption and incompetence claims.

Full documentation of the tendering committee on the award submitted to the PS but chose to ignore leading to the tender cancellation: