Shakeel & Company, a Pakistan based grain supplier lodged a complaint to the Public Procurement and Property Administration Agency, for the return of its half a million birr worth of Cashier Payment Order (CPO) which it submitted as performance guarantee.
It is to be recalled that Public Procurement & Property Disposal Service (PPPDS) have confiscated the CPO from the company, following Shakeel’s failure to abide by the terms of contract to supply 400,000 metric ton of wheat.
Few months ago, the company was announced as the winner of the aforementioned wheat supply contract which was issued by the Government of Ethiopia, and worth 2.6 billion birr.
However, following the signing of the contract, Shakeel was informed of the termination of the contract and cancellation of the entire bid process.
In return, the Service has requested its regulatory body – the Agency – to blacklist Shakeel. This would prohibit Shakeel from participating in any government bidding process in Ethiopia. However, at the time, the Agency, after looking into the case, has refused to accept the Service’s request to blacklist Shakeel.
This decision from the Agency in effect meant that the Service was supposed to return the CPO which we have submitted to service as performance guarantee during the bidding process, representative of Shakeel told The Reporter.
Following this, Shakeel went to the Agency lodging its complaint against the Service.
“We have received their complaint,” Negash Bonke, director of complaint hearing department at the Agency, confirmed to The Reporter.
The troubled wheat purchase process which went through a number of back and fourths finally created a nationwide wheat shortage.
The 400,000 MT was meant to be purchased and distributed in January and February 2018. The wheat, meant for market stabilization, was supposed to be distributed to more than 5,000 bakeries and 300 flour-mills in Ethiopia.
However, this plan failed forcing the Service to look into other alternatives. It finally retendered the purchase for a third time, by cutting the much-needed supply by half.
In this regard, it directly awarded 200,000 metric tons of wheat to a company called Promising at a total cost of 1.6 billion birr. This company has also managed to list the lowest offer of 1.39 billion birr for the remaining amount, in an open bidding process.
