Tenders in Kenya: The business of supplying tenders in Kenya has become a cash cow, especially with the devolving of services to counties. Everyday, county governments operatives are busy issuing bloated tenders to unsuspecting suppliers.
One of the tenderpreneurs has penned down details of how this latest scam is run ans how unsuspecting suppliers could easily find themselves battling corruption cases:
Some guy you barely know comes up with an tender offer and asks you whether you have a company the two of you can use to supply to a government institution.
We contributed Sh. 2,000 each and now we are proud home owners
At this point you are exited about the business opportunity and you forget or you ignorantly don’t know it takes a week to register a new company in Kenya. So the guy can have one if he wants.
You give him a business name or a company you jointly registered with your wife or mum or girl friend ( rarely is it with your dad, I wonder why).
Two weeks to a month later you have a tender offer for firewood supply to XYZ worth Sh. 11 million. You source the product and your contact finances the supply, Within two weeks your order is delivered.
After delivery you are told to return the original LPO for a new one with changed prices for the products you supplied using the original price. You are told to split the LPO into two invoices.
Using the new LPO you raise 2 invoices of Sh. 25 million and you are informed you need to open a new bank account where you will be paid from.
You are instructed to introduce a new signatory, seconded by your friend, to your new account, you can call the signatory your general manager.
Your 1st Invoice is processed and money sent to the account. Your General Manager accompanies you to make a withdrawal through a bank branch of their choice.
You withdraw the money in cash, you are left with Sh. 1 million to Sh. 2 million to Sh. 5 million for your service. Note the taxes and bank charges are your problem. After the second payment, your guy disappears or calls you months later with similar offers.
But weeks after you are paid, you have a new car, new lifestyle and new friends, the scandal breaks out and the government comes for you and your wife and you have to spend nights at the police cells.
EACC, KRA, DCI, Anti banking fraud unit, all come for your neck some claiming they can help you out if you gave a share of the Sh. 50 million loot, they never want to know how much you got.
Remember your contact disappeared and you are on your own. You spend the next 3 years moving from one investigation agency to the other being out on a bail of Sh. 3 million.
You are either found guilty or not, but you have your lessons. You may have godfathers or not, but governments change, power shifts, and corruption is a hot potato even 20years later.
Don’t be a victim.