In our exposé on the Transcend Media Group Limited Vs Safaricom Plc, there is another issue contained in the court document.
Safaricom Plc is also guilty of stealing another proposal by Transcend Media Group Limited.
The fraud is mentioned in the KPMG Audit as covered by cnyakundi.com.
Here, we see it in a court document; sworn and signed. This is a clear indication and an affirmation that the rot runs deep.
The court document states:
55. On 19th December 2013, the 1st Defendant had sent out an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a creative and digital agency pitch to only eight out of hundreds of potential media, advertising and communication agencies in the country. The pitch included the following;
a) Ability to deliver both ATL & BTL (Above the line and Below the line);
b) Strong financial capability due to Safaricom’s huge spends;
c) Working relations with any of Safaricom’s competitors;
d) Strong worldwide partnership and international network ; and
e) A clear strategy proposal.
56. Further, the Plaintiff (Transcend Media Group Limited) avers that the selection of the eight companies was based on an intense market research by 1St Defendant to identify the country’s top agencies that satisfy the RFP requirements. Notably, four of the eight agencies that bid were interestingly WPP/Scangroup affiliated companies.
57. A report prepared by KPMG and presented to the 1st Defendant’s (Safaricom) Board of Directors confirms that the 1st Defendant irregularly disqualified the Claimant and awarded Scanad the contract despite the Plaintiff emerging as the best bidder after evaluation. The KPMG reports notes that “Although Transcend Media was ranked first during the technical and commercial analysis, we observed that they were not selected”.
58. The Plaintiff avers that the forensic evidence retrieved on the tendering process confirms that the 1st Defendant brazenly breached its own procurement regulations and procedures and that the Plaintiff was denied the 1st Agency contract through the same fraud and conspiracy on the part of the 1st Defendant’s employees.
READ:
- Safaricom KPMG Audit: How Former Safaricom Employee Defrauded The Telco Millions
- Safaricom CEO Ndegwa, Audit firm PwC conspiracy to cover-up Michael Joseph over damning audit report
- The Full Document: Read the Transcend Vs Safaricom scandal in all its gory
59. The Plaintiff further avers that the 2nd Defendant (Bob Collymore) declined to respond and furnish details of the procurement of Scanad as it would have revealed that the process was also rigged and the Plaintiff irregularly disqualified. The 1st Defendant had represented to the Plaintiff and all bidders that it would undertake a fair and transparent tendering process and that the best evaluated bid will be awarded the contract.
60. On the strength of the said representations, the Plaintiff participated and incurred substantial costs in preparation of its tender documents and pitching costs. The said representations were false and misleading as the 1st Defendant did not award the contract to the best evaluated bid by the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff avers that the 1st Defendant never intended to undertake any valid tendering process.
