Hertta-Maria Amutenja
The Tsumeb Municipality has defended its decision to use a restricted bidding process for the construction of 31 Build Together housing units in Nomtsoub Extension 8.
The municipality said the approach was in line with the Public Procurement Act and necessary due to time constraints.
This follows a complaint filed last week by Affirmative Repositioning activist Johannes John.
He questioned the transparency of the process, alleging that only six companies were invited to bid and that one company had already been informally selected.
He called for the cancellation of the tender and a restart under open bidding.
In a written response seen by Windhoek Observer, acting chief executive officer Frans Enkali said the municipality acted within the law.
“The use of restricted bidding was necessary due to time constraints and the urgency attached to the housing delivery project. Although Open Advertised Bidding (OAB) is the standard method, it could not be applied due to time and urgency, for which the Act provides for flexibility where it is ‘not practical’ to follow traditional methods,” Enkali said.
He said the act allows restricted bidding when managing a large number of bids would be disproportionate to the value of the contract.
He also clarified that 11 local companies were invited, not six as alleged.
Of those, six attended a site meeting and submitted bids.
According to Enkali, the companies came from the municipality’s internal supplier list and held valid fitness certificates.
They had previously taken part in public procurement processes.
He said the tender was split into three lots, and each contractor would only be awarded one.
“As clearly stated in the bid document: ‘A bidder shall be awarded only one lot. Once a bidder has been awarded a lot, they shall not be eligible for consideration for any additional lots.’ Therefore, the contract will be awarded to three different contractors, not one, as alleged in your letter,” Enkali wrote.
He also corrected the total project cost.
“The estimated unit cost is N$80 000, totalling N$2 480 000 for all 31 units, not N$3 100 000 as stated in your letter,” he said.
AR’s original complaint accused the municipality of hand-picking companies and not explaining the use of restricted bidding.
In response, the municipality said all procedures followed legal requirements and committed to improving transparency.
Enkali said the municipality plans to issue an expression of interest to prequalify and categorise contractors, aiming to improve future procurement.
