In Kenya, EAAs was engaged by Kebs in March 2020 following expiry of the contract of another Japanese-based company, Quality Inspection Services Japan (QISJ).
Months later, the Kenyan parliamentary committee on public investments commenced investigation into awarding of the $13m (about Shs46b) tender to the EAAS and Auto Terminal Japan (ATJ) joint venture.
The committee in its report detailed that EAA had been previously reflagged for public procurement.
The committee also cited Kebs for awarding the PVoC contract without input from the Kenyan Attorney General’s office.
As a recommendation, the committee directed the Kenyan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority to further look into the tendering process started in 2019 and blacklist both EAAS and Auto Terminal Japan (ATJ) joint venture, for among others, submitting bogus documents as part of its bid.
The Kenyan Auditor General in a separate audit indicated that the company forged documents that gave them a global presence and an older date of incorporation.
The Auditor General’s investigations revealed that EAA had allegedly forged a Kebs form before filling it and attaching it as part of the 2011 bid.
The Auditor General was compelled to file a complaint with Kenya’s Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, which in June blacklisted the company from doing business in Kenya for three years on account of forgery and falsification of documents to clinch the tender.
Kenyan authorities working with Interpol have revealed that then EAA’s global presence in major pre-shipment hubs such as Japan, United Kingdom and United Arabs Emirates was questionable.
The country’s Directorate of Criminal Investigation opened investigations into the company last year after the Auditor General and the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee found that the firm used forged documents in its bid to win the tender.
When contacted, UNBS said there’s “no comment on the matter for now.”
