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Okahandja Greenlights Tender Amidst SME Concerns

By: Justicia Shipena and Hertha Ekandjo

Okahandja Town Council has greenlit a waste removal tender despite business people in the town raising concerns about the municipal cleaning tender’s requirements. The group claimed that the requirements are shutting out small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the town.

Councillor Bethuel Tjaveondja says the municipality explained the tender process to him while referring to section 62 of the procurement act.

“Based on that, they said they cannot intervene now unless they wait for a judge. They were also asking me a question if this tender goes to SMEs, and it falls short, then they will be responsible at the end of the day,” said Tjaveondja.

Hence he said that is why they made those requirements.

A businessman in Okahandja who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Villager that the municipality went ahead even after the procurement unit reached out to them.

“It is disappointing to hear that even after concerns and writing to them via email to ask for clarification,” he said.

He added that every tender process has a clarification period.

“They never responded to us. So we don’t even know what that entails and what it is showing us as SMEs,” he said.

He stated that the tender going ahead shows a preferred person or company already picked a bidder.

“The tender itself, the document was prepared for a preferred bidder with all the constraints to cut SMEs out. Then there was no way for them even to advertise the tender to invite bidders.”

The local businessman expressed that he believed equal opportunities were given to all business people in the country.

“Unless they must come out and tell us as to who they wanted to give it to, but it is disappointing to see something as such happening,” he stressed.

The bidding for the tender ended on 9 June 2022 after it was advertised on 9 May 2022.

Previously, the businessmen had said they started suspecting irregularities about the tender when they were called in for a meeting.

“That was the very day that we were told that the documents that we bought, there were changes to it, but we were not told what the changes were”, he said.

According to them, when they decided to obtain the tenders, they could not get a hold of any municipal officials.

They had expressed that the municipality had placed restrictive requirements on the tender.

“They require SMEs not to hire machinery for the project. Mind you; one must provide a truck in your company name,” the men explained.

The group of men also complained that the tender requires one to possess a bachelor’s degree in waste management.

Adding that, the municipality did not respond to their emails or queries regarding the tender.

They also said this was not the first time the municipality had done this. Furthermore, the businessmen stated that the same tender at a time had two dates, and the municipality couldn’t answer why it was so.

Meanwhile, a former Mayor of Okahandja, who also chose to remain unnamed, lamented that he was not happy with the requirements of the waste removal tender.

He also believes that SMEs are left behind and that they cannot afford to buy the heavy machinery as stipulated in the tender requirements.

“Where will an SME get a tipper truck? A truck on its own is almost of the value of N$3 million.”

He further stated that business people complain because they feel that this tender is only for big companies with such machinery.

Additionally, he said the best way to resolve the issue is for the municipality to cancel the tender and re-advertise it with better requirements.

He said that doing so will make it easier for people to apply.

Emmanuel Hangulah, an SME entrepreneur from the town, also wrote to the chief executive officer Alfons Tjitombo on 30 May.

In a letter in possession of The Villager, Hangulah seeks clarity on the tender, stating that the advert of the bid in the Namibian newspaper dated 13 May 2022 indicates that the bids are available from Wednesday 11 May 2022. In contrast, the bid document suggests that the bid was issued on 18 May 2022.

“Which is the correct version to be considered?” he questioned.

He also questioned why is it a requisite for an SME to be subject through liquid assets and credit facilities net to an amount of N$500 000.

“If the bid is most probably lower than?”

Hangulah said bids usually are valid for 30 days from bid advertisement till bid closing date, depending on the complexity of the bid.

“In this scenario, it appears that the valid bid is valid for only 20 days if issued on the 11 May 2022 and 15 days if issued on the 18 May 2022 until the 9 June 2022 as the bid closing date. Where is the justification for 15 and 20 days, and how did the dates arrive? The 90 days validity is subjected to days after the deadline and cannot be construed to the latter.”

He added that the clarification date being 27 May 2022 was premature.

“Taking into consideration the non-working and proclaimed public holiday days of the employer (Municipality of Okahandja) and the bidder considering 20 days if issued on the 11 May 2022.”

“Was the date based on new or old bidders who might have the earlier insight of the bid?” he further questioned.

Hangulah also questioned the equipment requirement of the tender.

“How has it been arrived to for the equipment to be used during the bid execution to become essential for the SME bidder without the option to lease, and which part of the Procurement Act makes provision for such?” Hangulah questioned.

He also questioned why the cashier of the municipality was allowed to issue bid documents after the site meeting had been conducted.

“How was and what formula was arrived at or is likely to come to determine the scoring criteria system for evaluating the full technical proposal?”

However, Hangulah’s letter of clarification never received a reposed from Tjitombo.

“Hon, kindly, as per my earlier telediscuss with you, I did not receive a written response up until date from either,” an email reads.

He wrote back stating that if the letter is not seriously considered by the office of the CEO and strategic executive finance, he will take action seeking the halt of the tender.

“I will continue to seek recourse with the relevant to ensure that the BID is brought to HALT and applied for correctly. Kindly for your office to give me a response no later than Monday 20 June 2022 on or before the closing of business,” he requested.

When The Villager reached out to the town’s CEO, Tjitombo, for comment, his phone went unanswered.

Hertha Ekandjo

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