A Businessman who campaigned for president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at a funeral three years ago has been awarded the contract for the first phase of the presidential guest house at Oshakati.
The Presidency has confirmed that Emirates Trading CC, led by northern businessman Josua ‘Emirates’ Haimbodi, will undertake the first phase.
Haimbodi has donated at least N$1 million to Swapo over the past decade, pledging N$500 000 ahead of the 2024 general election and donating the same amount in 2014.
In 2023, he told mourners at a funeral to vote for the party and Nandi-Ndaitwah.
Now, he is involved in the presidential guest house construction project.
Details of the cost of the Oshakati presidential guesthouse renovations are not yet known, amid long standing concerns that secret construction tenders are often used as a cash cow by some officials who often inflate contracts.
The Namibian understands the Oshakati guesthouse was renovated six years ago and former president Hage Geingob blocked attempts to renovate other guest houses, viewing it as unnecessary spending.
State House executive director Matheus Kaholongo has confirmed the ongoing activities at the Oshakati site.
“We have not chosen a contractor yet. What we did, Emirates got a tender to fill up the land there and clear up the space. That is phase one. The tender has not yet started. We are still undergoing the procurement process to select the successful company to build,” Kaholongo tells The Namibian.
He says the site requires filling because of its location in an oshana (stream).
“What they [Emirates] are just doing is filling up the space there because that is more oshana. They are filling up that land and clearing it. That’s all they got. The procurement process to build is still on,” he says.
However, after visiting the property, The Namibian confirmed it is not in an oshana
Kaholongo has declined to disclose the value of the construction, saying the government was still busy with the procurement process for the main construction works.
The project information board describes the work as ‘Alterations & Additions to the Oshakati State Guest House’.
Kaholongo says the work currently being carried out by Emirates was limited to earthworks to prepare the site for the planned construction.
“The tender for the earthworks is to clear it up for building. We are inviting bids. So, it would be incorrect now for me to give you figures when the tender process has not been approved and people are yet to tender,” he says.
Kaholongo has also declined to comment on the value of the tender awarded to Emirates.
“I cannot reveal figures. It is not for public consumption because the whole process is still ongoing.”
However, when The Namibian visited the site this week, a project information board erected at the construction site identified Emirates Trading CC as the contractor.
The project information board also lists Mutua Scriba Architects as the principal agent and architect, Richard Frankle & Partners as the quantity surveyor and Denchi Consulting Engineers as the mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as the civil and structural engineers.
The site has been enclosed with a temporary barrier made of corrugated sheets on the east.
Haimbodi, when contacted by The Namibian on Tuesday, declined to comment on the project.
“What is wrong? You are asking about something I don’t have information on. Maybe I am not the right person to comment. Why is [this] special? Why is it news? I am unable to comment in the media or to provide any information to your office,” Haimbodi said.
Sources tell The Namibian that there is a project up north that is likely to cost close to N$80 million.
The project comes as the government plans to construct a State Protocol and Support Complex in the Oshana region and upgrade state security infrastructure in the northern region.
It’s unclear if that amount has to do with the security complex or the regional state house.
According to the 2026/27 national budget, these projects form part of planned expenditure on state facilities and security infrastructure in the region.
The government has set aside a budget for the upgrading of state security infrastructure, while additional funding is planned for the construction of a State Protocol Support Complex.
The projects fall under the integrated national security enhancement programme, according to the expenditure estimates.
Asked whether the amount is the estimated N$80 million, Kaholongo says: “I don’t have that information because that information is still under due process of procurement. We are busy calling bids…the procurement process is ongoing.”
PREVIOUS PLANS
The government has previously considered expanding presidential facilities outside Windhoek.
In 2013, The Namibian reported that the government had abandoned plans to build mini State Houses in other regions at an estimated cost of N$1.2 billion.
The plans, first mooted in 2000, were intended to provide accommodation, office facilities and security for the president and his entourage during official visits to the regions.
At the time, then executive director to the president Samuel |Goagoseb confirmed that the mini State House project would not proceed because the country already had regional state houses at Swakopmund and Oshakati.
The project had appeared in government budgets from 2009, but was removed from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2013 to 2016.
Government documents at the time showed that about N$450 million had initially been budgeted for extensions to state houses in the regions before the projected cost of the broader mini state houses programme increased to N$1.2 billion.
These funds had been diverted to other State House capital projects, including renovations of the presidential houses at Oshakati and Swakopmund at the time.
Former parliamentarian Hidipo Hamata says the money the government is spending on the presidential guest house should be redirected towards establishing hospitals.
“I believe the government should direct more resources towards infrastructure that directly responds to the hardships faced by ordinary Namibians,” he says.
Political analyst Rui Tyitende says the government should instead focus on 10 000 housing units promised per year to the Namibian people by Nandi-Ndaitwah’s administration.
“This administration appears to be more focused on providing housing for the president, as her recent application to the City of Windhoek illustrates. This kind of maneuvering clearly indicates that the electorates’ expectations ran ahead of Nandi-Ndaitwah’s government’s ability to deliver,” Tyitende says.
