Only 3% of Namibia’s public entities submitted their annual procurement plans on time for the 2025/26 financial year, highlighting persistent non-compliance across the government.
This is according to the latest Procurement Tracker Namibia by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
By the end of the 2024/25 financial year, 176 public entities were expected to submit their annual procurement plans for 2025/26 to the Procurement Policy Unit (PPU). However, by 30 September, only 87 plans were visible on the e-Procurement Portal.
Of these, just five were submitted before the December 2024 deadline, meaning only 3% of plans were filed on time.
“Making sure that the public has access to annual procurement plans remains a major compliance issue in the public procurement system,” the IPPR states.
The organisation says procurement plans are critical for transparency and accountability, as they show how public funds will be allocated and enable early oversight of potential irregularities.
IPPR warns that late or missing submissions “limit public scrutiny and weaken control over state spending.”
“When procurement plans are delayed or not publicly accessible, it can hinder oversight and lead to inefficiencies in resource allocation,” the IPPR says.
According to the report, the e-Procurement Client System – operated by the PPU to publish procurement plans online – remains underutilised due to poor compliance.
The IPPR says the lack of timely submissions undermines public confidence and hampers watchdog efforts to monitor government contracts.
The institute further linked the delays to broader governance weaknesses, stating that “persistent non-compliance reflects limited enforcement by the Ministry of Finance.”
It notes that despite reforms introduced under the Public Procurement Amendment Act of 2022 and ongoing digital upgrades, many institutions continue to ignore basic legal requirements.
The IPPR suggests that consistent enforcement and possible sanctions may be needed to strengthen compliance.
It also cautions that proposed amendments under the 2025 public procurement amendment bill “will not address behavioural and capacity gaps unless accountability mechanisms are strengthened”.
“On paper, the public procurement system is designed to promote fairness and efficiency, but in practice it continues to be undermined by delays, neglect, and lack of enforcement,” the IPPR says.
