Certain quarters of the Kunene business community have claimed exclusion in major State tenders, saying unlike in other regions, indigenous inhabitants do not enjoy preference in the awarding process.

Their sentiments were echoed by Opuwo Urban constituency councillor Ueitjerevi Ngunaihe recently.

The politician stated that it is understandable for Namibians to enjoy equal opportunities wherever they find themselves.

What pains him, however, is why some regional tenders are limited to residents of specific regions, while in Kunene, tenders are open to everyone, sometimes to the exclusion of the indigenous business community.

“There is an imbalance in the management of the regional council. The least we did was to come up with providing locals with testimonials which they can use when submitting their bid documents to prove that they are residents of the region so that they can enjoy some protection when competing with people from other regions, which is the practice everywhere,” Ngunaihe said.

What is peculiar to him is that even in cases where tenders are awarded to business people originally from Kunene, the figures involved are miniscule.

“Time and again, we are told by those in charge of the process that people from Kunene are left out because they don’t know how to properly furnish and submit their bid documents. But why is it that they qualify for small tenders ranging from N$50 000 to N$100 000? But for big tenders involving millions, they apparently can’t ‘fill in their forms properly’!” he charged.

According to the parliamentarian, efforts to get assistance from the regional council, even when regional tenders are rolled out, have hit a brick wall.

“When we ask them what they have done to empower our people with the necessary know-how, we are told ‘it’s none of your business’,” the pastor-turned-politician said.

Another issue is that those occupying senior offices in the region are not originally from there , he claimed.

“For the first time, we now have one person, Charles Uarije, who was recently appointed as a deputy director. So, those responsible for tenders occupy those positions based on their seniority. We are not complaining because Namibians have the right to work anywhere. But when there are legitimate grounds for tribalism, nepotism and regionalism, we can’t turn a blind eye,” he elucidated.

Added Ngunaihe: “We are now planning to hold seminars with our business people to equip them with the necessary information so that they can compete on level ground, if it is indeed true that they don’t know how to fill in forms.”

Agreeing with him was Monica Tjizembisa, an aggrieved businesswoman.

She owns Mbeti Hills Investment CC. and complained that even if they submit documents timeously, these are altered to their disadvantage.

“We don’t have a problem with other companies receiving tenders. The issue is: why are our figures being changed?” Tjizembisa questioned.

She recently submitted a complaint to the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN)’s review panel, wherein she detailed her argument.

The businesswoman thus wants the review panel to set aside an award bid for the pumping out of septic water and removal of refuse at various institutions in Kunene.

Tjizembisa claims her bid documents were altered, which ultimately disadvantaged her.

“My company’s original bidding amount was justified to have met compliance. Therefore, I demand an explanation as to why my original amount of N$50 541.01 as per [the] registry has been changed to N$74 783.08,” she reiterated.

 “Justice must be done to all companies… We in Kaokoland [now Kunene] also need to make money. Therefore, whoever is here to make a living must be here to benefit from our wealth as well. We cannot give to others and end up being called poor and stupid”, she vented.

Kunene Regional Council CRO George Kamseb did not immediately respond to questions sent to him. His phone went unanswered yesterday. 

Meanwhile, the CPBN distanced itself from the Kunene fracas.

“It seems that the bid you are referring to was not facilitated by the CPBN. Hence, we are not in a position to comment on the allegations. Kindly be informed that the CPBN has never facilitated a bid in Kunene for pumping out septic water and refuse removal,” was their spokesperson Johanna Kambala’s response.

“On the issue of business people being left out in the Kunene region, the CPBN is guided by the Public Procurement Act of 2015, as amended. With this said, all bids facilitated by the CPBN are published in the local print media and on the CPBN website and social media platforms,” she stated.   

She was, however, quick to note that public procurement ought to benefit all Namibians equally.

“Once a bid is advertised, any Namibian or business has the right to participate in the bidding process without discrimination or prejudice. Should a bidder not be happy with our procurement process, such bidder has the right to apply for reconsideration with the CPBN within seven days when the notice for selection of award is issued, or alternatively approach the review panel should they not be satisfied with the CPBN’s outcome after reconsideration,” Kambala added.

- emumbuu@nepc.com.na