Articles

The Public Procurement Appeals Authority (PPAA) has upheld an appeal by Mr. Abdulkarim Meza (the appellant) against Bukoba Municipal Council (the respondent) and ordered the respondent to restart the tender process in observance of the law. This is revealed in PPAA ruling, whose copy was made available to TPJ.

The appeal was against a decision made by the respondent to award a tender for outsourcing revenue collection, lots VI and VII to Super Envirotech Co. Ltd. In the said appeal, the appellant was not satisfied to be disqualified from the tender process because he felt that he had met the required criteria to win the tender.
In responding to a statement of appeal, the respondent contended, among other issues, that the appellant had erred in law by lodging the appeal directly to PPAA as he was obliged in the first instance, to channel the same to the accounting officer. The respondent further contended that the appellant did not submit any evidence to prove his experience, adding that his tender was not properly sealed and addressed. The respondent also argued that the quoted price exceeded the respondents’ estimates for the tender in dispute.

In determining the appeal, PPAA addressed the following issues; whether the appeal was properly before PPAA, whether the appellant was unfairly disqualified, whether the awards of lots VI and VII to Super Envirotech Co. Ltd. were proper at law and to what relief, if any, were the parties entitled to.

In deciding the first issue, it was viewed that the appeal was proper in the eyes of the Appeals Authority since the documents availed by the respondent indicated that the appeal in question was lodged after the tender had already entered into force. “The respondent is correctly exercising his right under Section 82 (2) (a) of the Act,” PPAA ruling added.
On the second issue, PPAA was of the view that the reasons given for the respondent to disqualify the appellant’s tender were not justified. On whether the award of lots VI and VII to Super Envirotech Co. Ltd. was proper at law, PPAA was of the view that Super Envirotech Co. Ltd is a mere business name registered under the Business Names Registration Act, Cap 213. According to PPAA, a business name is not a legal personality therefore does not have the capacity to enter into contracts or to sue or be sued. PPAA therefore concluded that the award of the tender for lots VI and VII to Super Envirotech Co. Ltd. was not proper at law as the firm did not have a legal personality.

In determining whether the parties were entitled to any relief, PPAA upheld the appeal and ordered the respondent to restart the tender process in observance of the law. PPAA also ordered each party to bear its own costs.