Section 25, The Public Procurement Act, 2016

(1) A bid may be rejected only in accordance with this Act and regulations made under it. (2) A procuring entity may– (a) reject all bids at any time prior to the acceptance of a bid; (b) cancel the procurement processes where– (i) the procurement need has ceased to exist or changed significantly; (ii) insufficient funding is available for the (iii) there is a significant change in the required technical details, bidding conditions, conditions of contract or other details, such that the recommencement of processes is necessary; (iv) insufficient, or no responsive bids are received; (v) there is evidence of corruption, fraud, coercion or collusion among bidders; or (vi) cancellation is deemed to be in the interest of national security. Clarification and modification of bidding and prequalification Rules for description of goods, works and services. Deadline for bids and other applications. Cancellation of processes for rejection of all bids. 28 29 (3) Before rejecting all bids or cancelling any procurement processes, the procurement unit shall prepare a written request for approval of the cancellation for submission to the procurement committee, which shall clearly state– (a) detailed reasons for recommending cancellation; (b) the status of the procurement processes, including in particular, whether bids have already been opened under bidding methods; and (c) whether new procurement processes are recommended and, if so, the modifications recommended. (4) The reason for rejecting all bids, and for cancelling procurement processes, shall be noted in the record of the procurement processes, and promptly communicated to the bidders. (5) A procuring entity shall not be liable to a bidder by reason only of rejection of all bids or cancellation of procurement processes under subsection (2). (6) If a decision to cancel the procurement processes is taken before the deadline for submission of bids, any bid received shall be returned unopened to the bidder. (7) In the event of cancellation or the rejection of all bids in accordance with subsection (2), the procurement shall not re-bid to the same specifications and contract conditions unless the cancellation of the initial proceeding is for budgetary or other reasons unrelated to the specifications and contract conditions, but if the procurement is to be repeated, the reasons for the cancellation of the initial proceeding shall be examined and the technical specification or contract conditions, or both may be suitably modified prior to re-