There is no provision in the Procurement Act that gives the head of state unfettered powers to cancel tender awards by the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN).

This is the response by CPBN’s administrative head Amon
Ngavetene to mounting calls by certain quarters for President Hage Geingob to cancel medical supplies tenders recently awarded by the board. Since news hit the streets that CPBN had awarded tenders to, among others, companies owned by businessman Shapwa Kanyama, who bagged a N$650 million tender, pressure has been growing on Geingob to intervene.

Geingob is being bombarded by ordinary Namibians, his Swapo comrades and the opposition.

In his mantra to allow systems, processes and institutions to take precedence before individuals, Geingob has largely steered clear of meddling in CPBN’s affairs – at least for now. 

Ngavetene was interviewed on NBC’s ‘One on One’, which aired on Tuesday. 

“I don’t know [where the president comes in]. I need to be advised. In terms of the law [procurement act], I don’t see any provisions and in terms of remedial measures that have been set out where the president can come in,” Ngavetene said.

Reacting to Geingob’s decision to cancel the Hosea Kutako Airport upgrades tender, Ngavetene said the current legislation was not in place then.

“I have responded strictly within the confines of the Procurement Act, and I don’t see a space where it has been provided for where the president comes in,” he reiterated.

If the president chooses to invoke presidential powers over an administrative body, CPBN, in this case, Ngavetene said, such a decision should be informed by facts – not fiction.

“There must be reasonable and rational grounds for cancelling, such as irregularities [among them], corruption, fraudulent intent and collusion. If those facts can then be established, [then] I think yes, he [Geingob] can exercise those powers,” Ngavetene said.

Exclusive emergency 

The lawyer then pointed to a scary scenario, where health tenders could be centralised in the hands of a select few should Geingob heed the cancellation gospel. 

According to him, an airport tender and medical supplies are miles apart.

Namibians, he said, continued surviving, even after the airport tender was cancelled and being battled in the courts.

As for medical supplies, the cancellation would trigger a life-and-death situation, which leads to the invocation of emergency procurement.

“There is a misconception that people think there is a N$650 million tender for condoms. This [medical] tender consists of 491 items. Condoms have two-line items. The other 489 items are other things that hospitals need to use. Whether it’s bandages, scissors, gloves and whatever. So, my question is, if you say this has to be cancelled, in this instance where you have 491 items that hospitals need and people continue to get sick on a daily basis, what are the hospitals going to use? They will definitely need those goods. Where are they going to get them from? Then they will be forced to resort to emergency procurement,” Ngavetene theorised.

“That [tender cancellation] is a misapplied analogy. I expected more from people who claim to be public figures and have influence to first inform themselves,” Ngavetene said.

Medical rot

If the recent report by auditor general Junias Kandjeke into the State’s procurement during the Covid-19 pandemic is anything to go by, emergency procurement is a loophole used by officials to dish massive State contracts to their cronies, at whim, under the pretext of emergency.

Kandjeke is clear that an emergency cannot be used as an excuse to flout the procurement law. Multiple sources familiar with the health ministry’s modus operandi allege that, as far as procurement is concerned, emergency procurement is sometimes man-made – to eliminate competition. Health minister Kalumbi Shangula dismissed the perception that the ministry he leads is fertile ground for insider trading, saying those making such allegations have no clue how procurement works.  As things stand, when an emergency occurs – that is once the ministry runs critically low on or out of essential medical supplies – officials directly procure from suppliers of their choosing.

Over the years, it is alleged, those whom the ministry procures from on an urgent basis in most cases have the exact items needed by the ministry – readily available or stored – as if to say they knew the ministry would come knocking.  According to insiders, officials responsible for the ministry procurement avail such crucial items at the 11th hour, leaving the government with no choice but to buy from the on-waiting tenderpreneurs, who rely on inside information.

“As I sit here, I know of a person who is ready to supply medical supplies to the State at any given time. So, even if you go for an emergency, the tender will still end up in the hands of one person,” said an official.

Cash money

There is general discontent among Namibians over the government’s procurement system, which has produced fly-by-night millionaires. 

This is all while 1.5 million Namibians are said to be living in abject poverty, youth unemployment is estimated at 50% and in the face of the health and education sector barely keeping their heads above the water.

Ngavetene is alive to this reality.

“That is the culture that we need to change… for people who don’t have a long-term vision of their businesses and think they can make N$10 million today and spend it on cars and houses – let it be. But as institutions, we need to start setting up criteria where we start giving benefits to people who are able to use these funds to stimulate the economy,” he said.

He, however, demystified public perception that the term middleman or tenderpreneurs only applies to black-owned businesses. Locally, the terminologies are accompanied by a negative connotation.   

“We have a perfect system in terms of legislation. Let’s separate that from the conduct and the acts of individuals. The only thing failing this system or that will fail it will be human factors. It’s not the system itself or legislative framework,” the ever-composed Ngavetene asserted.

“I have faith in the current legislative framework around procurement,” he said.

The lawyer-cum-farmer said it was time that State agencies and ministries alter their procurement approach to one that speaks to the country’s economic trajectory.

Public procurement, Ngavetene said, should stimulate economic growth.

At the heart of his vision is a greater focus on manufacturing and agriculture.

“If we issue tenders worth billions of dollars, every year or two, we need to think and define criteria that say we will give preference to people who are either planting or have manufacturing plants so that we bring in technology and knowledge, and who are able to recruit more people and add value,” he posited.

In Ngavetene’s eyes, it does not make sense that “we have a school feeding programme’s tender running into billions, but we’re struggling to resuscitate green schemes.

“We are struggling to have a plan for Neckertal Dam while we know that all these tenders, in the end, will know that all these tenders will need tonnes of vegetables and fruits. “The question is how to start linking these things together,” he suggested.

- emumbuu@nepc.com