Health minister Dr Esperance Luvindao is at pains over how a multi-million-dollar contract to upgrade and renovate the Gobabis State Hospital theatre was awarded to a contractor with a poor delivery record.
The contract in question was awarded to the same contractor who, a few years ago, failed to complete work on the Intensive Care Unit and Dialysis Unit at the Rundu State Hospital.
Luvindao, who recently paid surprise visits to numerous health facilities in the Gobabis district, expressed dismay over prolonged delays and repeated missed deadlines by contractors who are tasked with constructing and renovating critical health projects.
“Why do we keep awarding contracts to the same people who are unable to do the job? It should not require a ministerial visit for contractors to be held accountable. When performance is not consistently linked to employment retention, we risk undermining efficiency, standards, and service delivery,” said the minister.
Luvindao was left puzzled as to how such an arrangement was allowed to go on for so long and why the contractors have not been held accountable for breaching a contract of such a critical State project on five occasions.
“These challenges are not financial; they reflect weaknesses in management and accountability. It is deeply concerning that the renovation of a theatre with a single operating room has taken six years to complete, with no consequences for non-performance. Questions must be asked regarding penalties, contractor oversight, and enforcement of contractual obligations,” she added.
During her two-day oversight visit to Omaheke, where she was accompanied by Governor Pijoo Nganate and various senior political leaders, the minister discovered that work on the theatre of the region’s biggest state hospital remains incomplete.
The project was initially scheduled for completion in August 2024, but the contractor failed to meet the set deadline. A new deadline of October 2024 was then given to the contractor, who again failed to deliver the project.
Having failed to meet the second deadline, the same contractor was again given an extension to finish the work by December 2024, and once again, the contractor did not meet the deadline. The completion date for the theatre was then again extended to March 2025, which was also missed.
For the fifth time, the contractor was then given another new deadline of November 2025, and yet again, the contractor failed to complete the project. This means that the upgrading and renovation of a single operating theatre at Gobabis has taken nearly six years.
Clearly frustrated, Luvindao continued: “In the meantime, healthcare professionals are compelled to work under extremely constrained conditions due to project delays. Such situations are not acceptable and underscore the urgent need to strengthen accountability and performance management.”
Accountability
When asked about the reasons for failing to meet set deadlines, the contractor on site cited personal reasons, cash flow challenges, and compliance issues with NamRA as some of the hindering factors to their operations.
Due to contractor delays, the envisaged operating theatre cannot be used, resulting in the hospital casualty department being utilised as a temporary theatre.
As a result, casualty services have now been reduced and relocated to a small room with only two beds, forcing some patients to sit upright on chairs while receiving intravenous treatment due to severe space constraints.
Luvindao warned that such delays have serious real-life consequences for both patients and healthcare workers.
The minister has since directed that all contractors with outstanding and delayed projects should have their contracts immediately terminated, a process that started with the termination of two major contracts of undisclosed companies last week.
“More contracts are in the pipeline for termination. We spent much of 2025 informing people what the new norm would be and what we would not tolerate. Perhaps they felt we would not act on our warnings. Let these two contractors serve as an example. The ministry will no longer tolerate incompetence. These are no longer threats; we are now acting. We have new guidelines for dealing with contractors, which will be applied to all future health construction tenders,” she cautioned.
