The majority of Okahandja councillors are questioning the continued cancellation of a cleaning tender. The tender in question aims to serve as an emergency response to clean up filth that has become the norm in Okahandja, which was once cherished as one of the cleanest municipalities in Namibia.
Grievances by the councillors prompted an urgent council meeting last week Thursday, where they sought answers from Okahandja CEO Alphons Tjitombo and other executive officials on the cancellation of the tender that has now happened three times.
Over the years, the once shining town has been marred with political controversies, which compromise service delivery to residents.
These days, when on a small tour around the town, visitors are greeted by the sight of heaps of rubbish, especially in the townships, which have become a consistent eyesore to residents and visitors alike.
At the centre of the storm are political differences following the cancellation of the cleaning tender that failed to pass the procurement process for nearly three years. The cleaning tender was first advertised on 15 December 2021 before it was cancelled last year.
The same tender was re-advertised last year and cancelled again before it was advertised once more towards the end of 2022, leading to its cancellation again this month.
Okahandja mayor Kaunapawa Hangula yesterday confirmed the meeting.
“I called an urgent council meeting with the CEO and the senior executive officer for finance to seek clarity around the cancellation of the cleaning tender, which has been cancelled for the third time. We also wanted to pave the way forward. We don’t interfere with the procurement process; hence, we were seeking clarity from the technocrats. We also looked at other alternatives to have a local person clean the town while the tendering issue is being sorted out,” the Swapo-affiliated mayor noted.
She, thus, called on residents to remain calm while they find an amicable solution to the cleaning services.
Meanwhile, the CEO explained the procurement of services is subject to compliance with the Procurement Act 15 of 2015.
“The accounting officer being the CEO, before any award, through the procurement process, must entertain queries raised by the bidders or the procurement policy unit, and statutory compliance is a prerequisite to executing the tender. Response to the procurement policy unit for the above was given, and the same was provided to the bidders, where the explanation was requested,” Tjitombo told New Era.
He said the tender status to the public and bidders at this point will become known when it is published in the newspaper this week.
Also, he said the procurement of the refuse collection services will be concluded within at least four days.
“The tendering process is not done in isolation. The public entity, in this case, does rely on the capacity of other public entities. Currently, the approval that has been sought from the relevant authorities has not been approved by the Ministry of Finance,” he stated.
Swapo councillor Isaskar Katuuo also confirmed attending the meeting.
“Okahandja is very dirty. This is done by administrators. We tried as councillors to bring Okahandja back to its glory days of a clean town but the administrators block us with procurement sections. I asked the CEO why they are hiring a truck with no capacity from Okakarara to do the work. We instructed the CEO to resolve this issue. He can’t tell us there is no capacity. I am very disappointed by the whole staff. Even if we pick up these heaps of rubbish, where are we going to dump them if we don’t have a formalised dumpsite?” Katuuo charged.
On the allegations that the CEO approved a refuse truck from Okakarara to perform cleaning services, Tjitombo answered that proof needs to be furnished –and that as such, be reported to the ACC.
“The procurement of this particular service was done above board by the internal structures. Evidence is there for scrutiny,” he challenged.
The alleged imported truck allegedly operated only for two days before it broke down, and its licensing disc is not up to date.
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) councillor Akser Aupindi also confirmed attending the meeting.
“The meeting was disappointing because our people continue to suffer. The town is dirty, and we can’t shy away to say it. The public is not happy. They think councillors are not working. We couldn’t get the right answers from the meeting. They are telling us it’s procurement. I advised that they involve councillors in such tenders. You can’t have a tender cancelled for the third time. We were not consulted for the first and second times that the tender was cancelled. We make decisions, but we are not the implementers. Implementers are failing the residents,” Aupindi reacted.
Furthermore, Charl Coetzee from the Okahandja Rate Payers’ Association said although he did not attend, he could confirm that it indeed took place.
Coetzee explained when the current members of the association took office in 2020, a motion was passed with resolutions to outsource the cleaning services to a provider with the necessary refusal equipment.
“This never happened. We also took a resolution to give cleaning tenders to locals to clean the town, which will create jobs and stimulate the local economy. None of these resolutions was implemented. My personal view is if the municipality took the resolutions seriously, they could have been implemented a long time ago. For me, it’s either incompetency or they don’t take council resolutions seriously. It’s unacceptable. As a resident, I am very upset,” he remarked.
Last week, some Okahandja businesspeople and residents took it upon themselves to clean the town.
A concerned resident, who prefers anonymity, alleged most officials at the municipality are incompetent.
“Most of them are brought there by friends through nepotism. They don’t know what to do. They have an ‘I-don’t-care attitude’. The CEOs are coming with intentions of only taking salaries. The town is very dirty. I don’t think they have a strategic plan. There are no skip containers. There is no change,” the displeased resident charged.
– anakale@nepc.com.na