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Govt not complying with procurement law

Francois Brand

Former procurement head Francois Brand says most government ministries, offices and agencies (OMAs) do not comply with the Public Procurement Act.

Brand yesterday said the act requires government offices to develop and publish their annual procurement plans three months before the start of the financial year.

“For OMAs that would, for example, be 1 April. Thus, being non-compliant could mean they haven’t done it, or in this case that they did not put it on the Public Procurement Unit (PPU) e-procurement portal for the public to view,” he said.

Brand said the public and suppliers need access to plans to prepare for bids, and to be accountable and transparent.

“That also applies to the other information that must be posted on the e-procurement portal, such as all bid adverts, bidding documents, bid opening reports, bid evaluation summaries and bid awards,” he said.

He said the impact of public entities in Namibia failing to comply with the Public Procurement Act is significant and multifaceted.

Brand said a lack of compliance could imply corruption and fraud.

“A lack of adherence to procurement laws increases the risk of corruption and fraudulent activities, as there are fewer checks and balances to ensure transparency and fairness in the procurement process,” he said.

Legal consequences are another repercussion.

“Entities may face legal action, including being taken to the High Court after the review panel process, which could damage their reputation and financial standing,” he said.

The lack of adherence of these government offices could affect Namibia’s international relations and funding, as transparency and accountability are often prerequisites for international funding,” Brand said.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Justice are the only two government offices fully complying with the Public Procurement Act, after submitting their annual procurement plans for the 2024/25 financial year, as required by the act.

This was revealed by researcher Frederico Links during the launch of an Institute for Public Policy Research transparency compliance check report in Windhoek yesterday.

Links explained that an annual procurement plan provides details on how specific companies have managed to be awarded tenders.

Links said 68% of public entities still have not submitted their plans to the PPU four months into the new financial year. “We still don’t have an idea of what’s in their annual procurement plans for this financial year,” he said.

Only 16 of the 33 government offices, ministries, and agencies, have submitted their plans to the unit.

It remains a major compliance issue across all levels of the government, Links said: “It’s an issue from central government levels through to the various levels of government – all the way down to local authority levels.”

Economist Roman Grynberg yesterday said national transparency is important: “Because we have secrecy jurisdictions, like Dubai, it is difficult to see how the money moves.”

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