By:Justicia Shipena
A petition has been launched by Namibian doctorsfollowing the revelationthat a N$650 million government tender has been awarded to Amnics Trading (Pty) Ltd, a companyowned by businessman Shapwa Kanyama for medical supplies to the health ministry.
The petition which was launched over the weekend with the aim to stop the government medical supply tender.
By yesterday afternoon the petition, created by health practitioner Namene Browney Timoteus and titled ‘Hands off our health system – tenderpreneurs’, had over 6000 signatures.
Timoteus said government should procure directly from manufacturers.
Meanwhile, the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) said on Friday the awarding of the tender has not been finalised.
The petition stated that it doesnot take an expert to figure out that Namibia’s public health care financing and procurement system is captured at the highest levels.
Timoteus expressed that the money injected annually through public procurement does not reflect the conditions on the ground.
“Staff in hospitals work in squalid conditions and are utilising whatever means in order to save lives,” the petitionreads.
Timoteus pointed out that in a country where the public health care system is faced with annual budget deficits, it is deeply concerning that the allocated resources are being grossly mismanaged.
“The daily challenges include delayed and postponed operations due to unavailability of crucial medical equipment, unavailability of medication – mostly blamed on the unavailability of funds,” she said.
“Our doctors and nurses are not sufficiently equipped to deliver a quality service to our Namibians. What is at stake are the overall health standards where thousands of patients wait for months for operations, and consequently picking up acquired infections, antibiotic resistance of pathogens causing infections in hospitals, unpleasant hospital stays and overcrowding due to poor and insufficient infrastructure countrywide.”
Timoteus said that the concern with the status quo is because, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation has been battling with more health-related illnesses than ever before.
With the global economy seemingly headed for a recession this year and increased inflation rampant, she said Namibia needs to become more prudent with how it allocates financial resources toward public health.
With the current medical supplies tender receiving public out cry,the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) convened a press conference on Friday to clarify matters around the tender award worth N$650 million to one bidder.
At that press conference the CPBN’s head of administration, Amon Ngavetene noted that the medical supplies tender that has caused a huge public outcry is not yet finalised and is still being reviewed.
According to Ngavetene, the error was on items such as surgical gloves, for which tender bids for 30 million gloves instead of three million gloves had been invited.
“The CPBN is in the process of rectifying any computation errors and errors in stated quantities. A revised notice for selection of procurement award will be issued in this regard,” he said.
This would result in a reduction of current recommended amounts.
The CPBN is awaiting reconsideration from bidders and the public after issuing a notice for aggrieved bidders to ask for a reconsideration of the current decision.
Ngavetene also explained that condoms to be supplied to the government by tender bidders were not costed per unit but per box containing 144 condoms.
He further explained that businessman Shapwa Kanyama’s company Amnics Trading, recorded as the most favoured tenderer with a bid worth N$650 million, has been in existence since 2012.
“The company in question, according to the documentation in CPBN’s possession, was converted from a close corporation,” he said.
According to Ngavetene, some bidders will be awarded supply contracts despite being more expensive, on the basis of being local manufacturers.
This, he said, is in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, which allows local entities to be given an advantage.