Lucrative social grant tender delayed for two years

After failing to award a lucrative social grant tender for the past two years, the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) has said all uncertainties that led to the delay have been dealt with. The board added that the extensions were necessary, saying there were a lot of queries from bidders it had to attend to.The bidding for the tender comes to a close today.This was confirmed by CPBN spokesperson Johanna Kambala, who was responding to a Namibian Sun enquiry into why the board failed to award the tender over the years, which saw the current holder - Epupa Investment Technology - receiving extensions since 2022, after its second five-year contract came to an end.There have been allegations that Epupa was being favoured and that the tender was being ‘monopolised’ to suit the company, a situation that does not sit well with those who also want a shot at the lucrative deal.However, according to Kambala, the extensions came as a result of CPBN having to respond to enquiries made by the bidders, and addressing uncertainties surrounding the tender. She added that the tender could not be awarded earlier as the deadline for submissions was set for 23 July.“The rationale for dealing effectively with enquiries is to satisfy the bidders by dealing amicably with their concerns and mitigating any risk that might occur due to uncertainty. This process has now been completed and concluded,” Kambala said.The closing of the bid will be followed by the evaluation of bids within five days, done by “independent evaluators appointed by the board, in terms of Section 9 (1) (i) of the Public Procurement Act”.Kambala added that the board is unable to disclose how much the social grant tender is worth.“This procurement process is designed to be competitive. Price is the final deciding criterion once all the other criteria such as mandatory and technical specifications have been met. The value of this bid cannot be divulged while the bid is still in the market as such disclosure defeats the purpose of the principle of competitive supply,” she said.kenya@namibiansun.com

Lucrative social grant tender delayed for two years

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-01

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Lucrative social grant tender delayed for two years

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-01

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