No medical supply tender overturned over objections

None of the objections raised so far against the recent controversial medical supply tenders have led to cancellations,the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) confirmed yesterday.Administrative head Amon Ngavetene said the objections raised were not “sufficient enough” to warrant overturning the outcome of the adjudication process.CPBN will give comprehensive feedback on the matter next week.“None of the grounds for appeal were sufficient enough to overturn the outcomes we have so far.“They are mostly based on small things like the numbering of pages, or that one bidder had a lower asking amount,” he told Namibian Sun.Law over emotionsNgavetene said CPBN will be led by the laws guiding its operations, especially the Public Procurement Act, and not public emotions.“We cannot overturn a tender over public emotions. We will stick to law as a guiding principle.“If we overturn an award by ignoring the law and get sued, which law are we going to defend ourselves with?” he asked.Twenty companies have submitted objections to the manner in which the N$2.4 billion medical tenders have been adjudicated upon, with successful bidders to be formally notified soon.Alarms have been raised over the two-year N$650 million government medical supply contract won by Amnics Trading – a company owned by businessman Shapwa Kanyama. It includes a deal to supply condoms and medical gloves to the state.CPBN has also come under scrutiny for picking Fabupharm for a N$458 million medical tender, using the emergency direct procurement method.It formed part of 473 ministry of health tenders which have gained notoriety for the manner in which the CPBN awarded the bids to various local companies, some of which are alleged not to have the manufacturing prowess, while other bids were alleged to be priced above market-related value.Many politicians - including President Hage Geingob - voiced concern over the awarding of the bids, with the head of state calling upon the relevant authorities to make sure all provisions of the law are followed to the letter.All except AmnicsMeanwhile, in a recent paper, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) also questioned the awarding of bids to some medical supply companies.“The standard practice in public procurement is to always go for the most responsive bid with the lowest price. That practice applied to all bids for the vast majority of clinical materials and products that formed part of the clinical supplies procurement tender in which Amnics Trading emerged the big winner.“It applied to all except most of the products where Amnics Trading was recommended as the preferred bidder,” it said.

No medical supply tender overturned over objections

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-07

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No medical supply tender overturned over objections

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-07

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