ARV tender
As the fight for the supply of anti-retroviral (ARV) medication continues, businessman Shapwa Kanyama says scores of his employees will be left jobless if the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) does not award his company the lucrative contract.
Kanyama said this in court papers filed recently, in which he is also asking the High Court to hear a review application on an urgent basis.
His business, Africure Pharmaceuticals Namibia, was awarded a bid to supply the health ministry with ARVs. The CPBN is, however, challenging the decision.
Making his case for why his company’s review application should be considered on an urgent basis, Kanyama said his business had various operational expenses.
“[Africure] employs ad hoc casual employees. It is evident that the single effective award is not able to sustain three months’ salary, let alone the various other expenses,” court papers read.
According to the businessman, job losses would also occur if the review application is not heard.
“I submit that the livelihood of [Africure's] employees would be affected if the award is [not] implemented,” it read.
“The monetary loss which results from the impugned procurement process is significant to [Africure] as it would have to retrench employees in its factory because the award is so small that it cannot sustain those employees’ remuneration. [Africure] would not be in a position to continue [to] build its capacity as a local manufacturer of pharmaceutical products,” court documents added.
‘Illusionary’ hardship
CPBN chairman Amon Ngavetene shot down Kanyama’s defence, saying no financial losses would occur if the review application is not heard on an urgent basis.
“I deny that [Kanyama] shall suffer irreparable financial hardship if the items constituting the tender are supplied by any other successful tenderers. The hardship which [he] contemplates is illusionary. [Africure] does not say, let alone demonstrate, at all, that its bid was wrongly evaluated and that it should have been awarded the bulk of the other items,” he said.
Kanyama was aware when the CPBN would enter into contracts with its chosen suppliers, Ngavetene said.
“For a very long time, [Africure] has known exactly when the contracts would be signed. It attempted through two failed urgent applications to interdict the procurement process. Nothing it says now renders this third attempt urgent,” he said.
He further argued that Kanyama’s application must be struck from the court roll for lack of urgency, or alternatively dismissed on merit.
Kanyama said this in court papers filed recently, in which he is also asking the High Court to hear a review application on an urgent basis.
His business, Africure Pharmaceuticals Namibia, was awarded a bid to supply the health ministry with ARVs. The CPBN is, however, challenging the decision.
Making his case for why his company’s review application should be considered on an urgent basis, Kanyama said his business had various operational expenses.
“[Africure] employs ad hoc casual employees. It is evident that the single effective award is not able to sustain three months’ salary, let alone the various other expenses,” court papers read.
According to the businessman, job losses would also occur if the review application is not heard.
“I submit that the livelihood of [Africure's] employees would be affected if the award is [not] implemented,” it read.
“The monetary loss which results from the impugned procurement process is significant to [Africure] as it would have to retrench employees in its factory because the award is so small that it cannot sustain those employees’ remuneration. [Africure] would not be in a position to continue [to] build its capacity as a local manufacturer of pharmaceutical products,” court documents added.
‘Illusionary’ hardship
CPBN chairman Amon Ngavetene shot down Kanyama’s defence, saying no financial losses would occur if the review application is not heard on an urgent basis.
“I deny that [Kanyama] shall suffer irreparable financial hardship if the items constituting the tender are supplied by any other successful tenderers. The hardship which [he] contemplates is illusionary. [Africure] does not say, let alone demonstrate, at all, that its bid was wrongly evaluated and that it should have been awarded the bulk of the other items,” he said.
Kanyama was aware when the CPBN would enter into contracts with its chosen suppliers, Ngavetene said.
“For a very long time, [Africure] has known exactly when the contracts would be signed. It attempted through two failed urgent applications to interdict the procurement process. Nothing it says now renders this third attempt urgent,” he said.
He further argued that Kanyama’s application must be struck from the court roll for lack of urgency, or alternatively dismissed on merit.
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