Minister Sankwasa Criticizes Local Authorities for Favoring Foreign Companies Over Namibian Businesses

Staff Reporter THE Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sankwasa James Sankwasa, has criticised local authorities for favouring foreign-owned companies over Namibian-owned businesses when it comes to tenders, emphasising that such actions not only significantly hinder national development but also contravene the Public Procurement Act. “The procurement committees of regional councils and local councils have dismally failed this country by prioritising foreign-owned companies – owned, in most cases, by people who are not even registered voters of this country. They don’t vote for you, yet you prefer to deal with them while those who are voting are suffering. It is time to address these issues,” Sankwasa said. He made these remarks at the opening of an induction workshop for regional and local councillors, chief regional officers, chief executive officers, and council administrators. The workshop took place in Rundu, Kavango East Region, under the theme: “Accountability as a Bedrock for Effective Governance to Achieve Effective Service Delivery in Regional and Local Authority Councils.” “For too long, we have witnessed the preference for foreign nationals in the name of ‘track record’ and the cheapest price being offered. This comes from administrative staff members. Staff members – I want to emphasise – you have misled the political leadership in this country with this thing of ‘track record.’ You have not even dissected what a track record is! You have not dissected what the cheapest price being offered is,” Sankwasa said. The minister emphasised that the procurement of tenders must be guided by the objectives of the Public Procurement Act, which aims to promote and facilitate job creation for Namibian citizens and to strengthen measures to implement the government’s empowerment and industrialisation policies. He reiterated that Namibian-registered small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should therefore receive preferential treatment in the awarding of procurement contracts, as prescribed by the Act. “You don’t know the law. Let’s change that. Read your law properly. Interpret it properly. Implement it properly. Preferential treatment is for Namibian companies first and foremost – not the cheapest price, not the track record, Namibians first and foremost,” Sankwasa said. The minister also urged local authorities to properly vet and monitor Namibian-registered joint ventures, noting that some foreign companies only include local partners during the tender submission process but sideline them once the contract is awarded. “When a tender is submitted, it’s a joint venture with a local company, and the contract is signed, but before the ink dries on that paper, the Namibian company is out of the picture. And the Namibians are very happy when they are told, ‘Don’t even report, we will pay you off.’ So, they get paid off, and they don’t even report,” he said. He further stressed that Namibian companies that engage in such practices should be blacklisted to prevent them from participating in similar conduct in the future. “The time for ‘Namibia first’ has come,” Sankwasa added. CALLED OUT: Scenes from the induction workshop. Photos: Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.