Defence ministry-owned August 26 Construction was recently awarded the N$30 million tender for upgrading the International Women Peace Centre (IWPC) in Windhoek. 

This comes on the heels of the same company being awarded a substantial N$255 million tender for the construction of classrooms nationwide. 

August 26 was awarded the tender on 24 May 2023 and the site was handed over on 5 June 2023. Renovations commenced on 14 June 2023, with finalisation expected in May next year.

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCO) executive director Penda Naanda said the ministry elected to deploy restrictive bidding due to the “sensitivity” of the project.

“Due to the sensitivity of the project, the ministry opted for one of the procurement methods being the restricted bidding process where five pre-qualified bidders were issued with bidding documents. Of the five companies, three showed interest, whereas the other two companies withdrew from the process,” the diplomat explained.

He further clarified that all procedures as prescribed by the Public Procurement Act in the awarding of tenders were followed, and the ministry adhered to the provision of the Act, more so, by inviting relevant disciplines for the evaluation of the tender, until its execution.

The evaluation criteria that were used to award covered aspects such as the bidder’s eligibility, administration, and legal requirements, and scoring technical and financial requirements.

He further said the Procurement Act provides that only the executive director or the person appointed to act in his or her absence award tenders and that deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the ministry’s political head, was briefed all the way, as the intention was to have the renovations completed before Namibia chaired the SADC Organ, instead of using alternative venues to host Organ meetings. 

“However, as the centre was not complete, alternative venues had to be utilised for the meetings during our tenure as the chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation,” said Naanda.

He added that the ministry consulted the works ministry requesting a technical team to assist with the evaluation of the bid documents, which were appointed to the bid evaluation committee as per the Public Procurement Act.

The Ministry of Works and Transport (MWT) was also part of the planning from the onset, dating back to when the property was purchased, he said.

“In fact, the property was purchased on the recommendation of the MWT and thus purchased through their office.”

Naanda elaborated that all drawings, building plans, bills of quantities, and technical staff were approved and provided by the MWT. “More so, officials from the MWT have been attending site visits for the project in question, the last being on 31 October 2023 which they could not attend.”

All members of the said committee, he added, fell within the disciplines of engineering and quantity surveyors which are not available on the structure of MIRCO.

“The evaluation report was presented to the procurement committee in the ministry which in turn submitted their recommendation to the accounting officer for awarding,” Naanda said.

“After following a meticulous process, the tender for the upgrading of the IWPC, was awarded to August 26 Construction (Pty) Ltd which scored 90 points after combining both technical and financial evaluation points compared to its competitors,” he said, noting that there are supporting documents to this effect.

“The total value of the tender looked at bidders which fall in the range of 15% below and above the estimated building cost of N$27.4 million. The bid was awarded to the bidder which fell in the range 15% above (10.81%) with an amount of N$30.1 million (inclusive VAT) as approved by the Ministry of Works and Transport,” Naanda explained.

Threshold

Naanda also emphasised that the ministry is well within its right to have opted for restricted bidding as it is within its allowable threshold of N$35 million. This, in essence, means that the ministry did not have to involve the Central Procurement Board of Namibia to procure on its behalf. 

Peace centre

Back in 2020, Vice President Nangolo Mbumba and Nandi-Ndaitwah inaugurated the operationalisation of the IWPC located in Ausspanplatz purchased by MIRCO and the works ministry.

However, shortly after the inauguration, it was found appropriate for the centre to be renovated to cater for the different activities.

Due to limited government conference facilities, the aim was to complete the renovation at the centre to enable the ministry to host SADC Organ meetings.

“Unfortunately, our tenure as chair came to an end on 17 August 2023 and we were unable to utilise the centre for our meetings. This was due to the prolonged procurement process and serious deficits. However, the completion of the renovation will continue, and it will serve as an asset,” Naanda added.

The main scope of the IWPC will be offices, conference rooms, lavatories and a kitchen.

-  emumbuu@nepc.com.na

Photo: MIRCO

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