Feud over N$24m radiology tender

OGONE TLHAGE WINDHOEK The fight over a multimillion-dollar tender to supply and install radiology technology at five public hospitals is the subject of an appeal at the Central Procurement Board of Namibia.Namibian Sun has learnt that one of the losing bidders wants the picture archiving communication system and radiology information systems tender award to be cancelled.Uni Medical Supplies (Uni Med) was awarded the contract to supply and install the machinery and software at the Windhoek Central, Katutura, Rundu and Oshakati hospitals for N$24.4 million.After the health ministry notified losing bidders that the contract was awarded to Uni Med, claims emerged that the bidding rules were questionable from the beginning and that a series of unexplained changes - which included the withdrawal and readvertising of the tender - navigated the multimillion-dollar tender towards a ‘predetermined’ award.It all started when the health ministry advertised the tender in October 2020, with one of the requirements being that bidders must submit audited financials for the last three years. Bidders were also required to provide proof of similar work done.The initial tender - which closed on 17 November 2020 - was withdrawn and subsequently readvertised with new conditions on 9 April 2021.The health ministry cancelled the initial tender on 16 March because “no bidder is responsive”.Uni Med was in existence for just under two years when the tender was readvertised, after having registered with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority of Namibia (Bipa) on 16 April 2019.When it applied for the initial tender, it was disqualified because it did not provide audited financials or proof that it had done similar work previously.IrregularitiesOne of the losing bidders, Green Enterprise Solutions, is now challenging the award, citing irregularities.According to the health ministry, Green Enterprise’s bid was not responsive because it allegedly did not indicate similar work done, did not achieve above 70% of technical compliance and it did not attach a manufacturer’s authorisation letter.The ministry further claimed that “local IT technicians are not trained on [the] medical systems provided”.Green Enterprise’s managing director Kehad Snydewel alleged that the tender was specifically aimed to be awarded to Uni Med.He also claimed Uni Med did not meet the requirements in a submission made to the Central Procurement Board’s review panel.Snydewel also alleged that Uni Med did not provide proof to the health ministry that it had performed similar work in the past to supply the technology sought.The company also wants the ministry to terminate the procurement process and start afresh or re-consider all bids afresh, including the tender bid it had submitted.According to Snydewel, Uni Med did not meet the requirement of submitting audited financial statements when the bid was initially run in 2020.The requirement was then changed so that companies rather submit audited financials for two years when the tender was left to re-run in 2021, he said.“The second respondent did not meet the requirement in 2020 and was therefore found to be not responsive. In the tender of 2021, the requirement was reduced to two years of audited financials.“Upon the applicant investigating the registration date of the second respondent via the website of Bipa, it was discovered that the second responded would not have met the requirement for three years’ audited financials,” Snydewel said. Not enough experienceHe added that Uni Med also did not meet the bid’s requirement for number of years of experience required.“In the tender of last year, one of the requirements was the provision of similar work done/projects undertaken by the respondents. The second respondent did not meet that requirement in 2020.The applicant wishes to inquire how the second respondent now has the required number of work projects to reference between the time of the closing of the tender of last year November to the closing of the tender this year,” Snydewel asked.“For the reasons advanced hereinabove, we accordingly ask the review panel that this tender be cancelled and the process to start afresh to the anomalies pointed out,” he added.The health ministry’s deputy executive director Petronella Masabane said she would provide answers once she consults with the ministry’s procurement directorate.Contacted for comment yesterday, Green Enterprise confirmed submitting the appeal, but refused to discuss the matter.“This matter is with the relevant authorities and we do not wish to discuss this in the media”, the company’s executive chairman Llewellyn le Hane told Namibian Sun yesterday.

Feud over N$24m radiology tender

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-07

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Feud over N$24m radiology tender

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-07

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