A Japanese vehicle inspection company has been barred once again from participating in public procurement in Kenya, marking its second blacklisting in less than five years.

EAA Company Limited has been handed a three-year ban by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), effective from March 18, 2025.

The authority did not provide reasons for the latest action, although the procurement law outlines several grounds under which a company may be disqualified, including tax evasion, use of forged documents, corruption, and poor performance.

This fresh debarment follows the expiry of a previous three-year ban, which had been imposed on EAA after it was found to have submitted forged letters while bidding for inspection tenders floated by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).

The company was found guilty of using falsified documents on three separate occasions.

EAA is one of only two firms that have been banned by PPRA in 2025 so far.

The other is Filtronic International Limited, a supplier of aircraft parts and airport equipment, which was banned for three years beginning March 5.

The earlier action against EAA was taken in December 2021 after investigations revealed the company used fake documents to bid for Kebs contracts in 2011, 2014, and 2019.

Following that decision, the company went to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the ban, claiming its rights were violated during the proceedings and in the handling of the debarment.

However, according to PPRA, the case was later dropped.

“When the matter came for mention on June 13, 2024, EAA chose to withdraw the suit. Upon hearing the parties, the court marked the case as withdrawn with no orders as to costs,” PPRA stated in its report.

The latest ban now prevents EAA from participating in any public tenders in Kenya until 2028.