Despite promising that it would ascertain whether health tender magnate Shapwa Kanyama’s purported factory exists, and manufactures condoms, the silence from the Central Procurement Board is deafening.
A fortnight ago, during a hastily- arranged press conference, the procurement board shockingly conceded that it failed to do due diligence to establish whether Amnics Trading – owned by Kanyama – has an actual manufacturing plant for surgical goods and condoms.
The board also admitted that it only relied on documents presented to them by him, but never verified.
There was no need to verify, it seems. This is despite the board’s decision to award medical supplies tenders, worth around N$650 million, to Kanyama’s company.
What is peculiar is that Amnics Trading saw off competition from other bidders – some cheaper – on the basis that it is a “local manufacturer”.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines manufacturing as “to make from raw materials by hand or by machinery.”
CPBN’s decision flew in the face of competitors and industry players, who disputed the existence of Kanyama’s factory and its purported 50 employees.
Last week, New Era visited the complex which houses Amnics Trading’s warehouse or factory.
While there was little to nothing to meet the basic definition of a factory, this paper was denied entry. Kanyama, however, maintained his factory is in operation, and even exports products to other countries.
This week, The Namibian, another local daily, visited the same ‘factory’ but was allowed access, only to find that no condoms were being manufactured there.
Instead, the report said, the condoms are not manufactured at the said factory, but are packaged there after their arrival from the ‘Food Paradise’, Malaysia.
This week, New Era sought answers from procurement boss Amon Ngavetene on whether his team now had the facts on the table and what the way forward is, amidst a public outcry.
Some bidders also protested the award, which journalists were told is “under review”.
Ngavetene did not respond.
Labour ministry
The labour ministry, however, confirmed issuing a certificate of registration of a factory to Amnics Trading (Pty) Ltd on 20 July 2022.
The certificate, seen by New Era, was issued less than three months after the tender was advertised. “The certificate is issued in terms of the regulations relating to the health and safety of employees at the workplace. In addition, an inspection was done at the factory, and the findings were that it (factory) met the occupational health and safety requirements, hence the issuance of the certificate,” Maria Hedimbi, the ministry’s spokesperson, confirmed last week.
The factory is situated on Birmingham Street in Windhoek’s northern industrial area.
Context
In January, Kanyama’s three-year-old company Amnics Trading courted controversy after bagging lucrative medical supplies tenders.
One of the tenders is worth N$416.7 million, it was reported, a whopping N$256.8 million higher than the second-highest bidder.
The entire health medical supplies tender, which contains over 400 items, is valued at a staggering N$5 billion.
Amidst calls by politicians and the public alike to cancel the tenders, which are seen as a cash cow for middlemen and political proxies, the health ministry and procurement board say it must go ahead.
Otherwise, the public health sector would be crippled.
Kanyama, however, is not the only politically-exposed person to have landed lucrative health tenders, if the recent award is anything to go by.
According to a report, Erongomed Health Distributors submitted a bid of around N$5,7 billion. The company, it is said, has close ties to Kanyama. Another company in the race for this tender is Nampharm, which submitted a N$4 billion bid, while former City of Windhoek chief executive officer Martin Shipanga’s company, Shipanga
Medical Services, submitted bids worth N$1,6 billion.
The Namibian’s report further states that Taliindje Investment CC is also in the race for the latest tenders to supply medicine, with bids worth N$68 million.
Prominent lawyer Rodgers Kauta’s Econo Investments (Pty) Ltd also submitted bids of around N$934 million.
Threshold
While some quarters are calling on the government to do away with the middlemen procurement system, most public entities are hamstrung due to the existing law.
Even some of the biggest parastatals cannot go around the law, despite having internal capacity to execute major procurements themselves.
For instance, the Electoral Commission of Namibia, NamPower, the troubled TransNamib and Namibia Ports Authority can procure goods up to the value of N$25 million; services worth N$35 million; consultancy services worth N$20 million; and non-consultancy services valued at N$15 million.
Anything beyond these thresholds must be advertised on public tender.
Cancellation
What is true is that the procurement board is empowered by law to cancel bids on condition that they fail to meet certain requirements.
According to the Procurement Act, bids can be cancelled if they are branded “non-responsive”, or if the lowest evaluated bid is substantially above the applicable cost estimate. A tender can also be nullified if the goods or services are no longer needed, or if it has been “established that there has been collusion among the bidders”.
If an “irregularity” occurs that warrants cancellation, such a tender can be negated.
More so, if it is not “economically” viable to proceed with the bid, the procurement board is empowered, at a whim, to annul it.
Moreover, if a bid does not create or achieve the expected result, it can be terminated.
-emumbuu@nepc.com.na