The case, which was heard by Judge Louis Muller, is pitting two computer software companies and former business associates, Global Bits Software Namibia and New Point Electronic Solutions, against each other in a tussle over control of the contract with the Prime Minister's office.

With no representative of New Point attending the hearing of the urgent application, though, Judge Muller granted Global Bits a court order directing New Point to deliver a list of documents and information on the contract with the Prime Minister's office to Global Bits.

This order is in effect pending further court action in which Global Bits is set to ask that a management agreement it concluded with New Point be declared invalid or cancelled.

In terms of a contract concluded between the Office of the Prime Minister and Global Bits Software Namibia on September 12 last year, the company had to provide and install computer software and set up a "Human Capital Management System" for the Public Service Commission.

The cost of the project was set at N$7,5 million.

The then Managing Director of Global Bits in Namibia, Narendraprasad Japal, signed the agreement with the Office of the Prime Minister and also took charge of the contract on the company's behalf, a technical consultant of the company, Gustav Botes, states in an affidavit filed with the court.

After the contract had been concluded, Global Bits signed an agreement with New Point, of which Japal was also the MD and a shareholder, on November 23 last year.

In terms of this agreement, New Point was to manage the contract with the Prime Minister's office as a sub-contractor for Global Bits, Botes informed the court.

According to Botes, a detailed management agreement was supposed to be concluded between the two companies within seven days after the first agreement had been signed.

According to the first agreement, that agreement would be invalid if the detailed management agreement was not signed within the set time limit.

Although a detailed agreement was never signed, New Point still continued with its work on the project.

According to Botes, he joined the project team on January 14.

On January 31, New Point demanded payment of N$1,98 million for work it claimed to have done on the project.

An unsigned time sheet that accompanied the demand for payment indicated that 24 hours of work had been done over the course of three days, and from this, "it appears that for this 24 hours, a staggering N$77 000 is charged", Botes states.

He also states that at this point it was decided that Global Bits could not continue to employ Japal, "because he was clearly acting only in the interests of (New Point)", with the result that his contract as MD of of Global Bits was terminated.

By early March, Global Bits decided to formally end its contract with New Point as well, but the Office of the Prime Minister did not want to have the subcontractors changed at that stage of the project, according to Botes.

After presenting the Prime Minister's office with a project implementation plan following a meeting on August 4, Global Bits accepted that it could continue with the finalisation of the project, Botes states.

To be able to complete the project, Global Bits however needed original information that had been provided by the Prime Minister's office, as well as completed parts of the work, from New Point, according to Botes.

New Point's eventual response to a demand for this came in the form of a lawyer's letter last week, in which the company disputed that its management contract with Global Bits was invalid and offered to hand over the requested material only if Global Bits first paid N$6,735 million to it.

In his affidavit Botes points out that New Point claimed N$2,53 million as a management fee for the period April 2007 to August 30 this year.

The project however only started during June 2007, he states.

New Point also did not attach any time sheets, as required in terms of the allegedly invalid management agreement, to support its invoice for payments to people who have worked on the project, and further claimed N$200 000 for "post-implementation support", which is work that can only be done after the project has been implemented, Botes claims.

He also disputes New Point's claim of N$764 500, being half of the expected net profit on the project, from Global Pits.

The profit could only be calculated and paid after the full contract price had been received and all expenses of the contractors had been paid, he states.

With New Point withholding the requested information and completed work, Global Pits cannot claim any payments from the Office of the Prime Minister, and is not in a position to pay New Point either, Botes states.

He accused New Point of intending to frustrate Global Pits in its attempts to complete the project so that the Office of the Prime Minister can cancel the agreement with Global Pits.

Judge Muller granted Global Bits the order it asked for.

Raymond Heathcote and Natasha Bassingthwaighte represented the company in court.

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