Another medical tender in court

The awarding of a tender for the supply of pharmaceutical products to the health ministry is once again the focus of a court case.Africure Pharmaceuticals Namibia recently filed an urgent application at the Windhoek High Court against, among others, the acting chairperson of the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) and the minister of health.Africure is applying for an interim interdict that will prohibit the acting chairperson and the minister from implementing a tender in relation to the supply and delivery of antiretroviral (ARV) medication to the ministry.If the interdict is granted, it will take effect pending the outcome of a review application in which Africure is challenging decisions by the CPBN and the ministry in relation to the relevant tender award.Africure argued that the CPBN did not comply with the prescriptions of preferences for local manufacturers and that the tender award should be reviewed and set aside on that basis.However, the procurement board argued that Africure identified a foreign company as the manufacturer of the products in its tender documents.Price preferenceThe chairman of the board of directors and shareholder of Africure, Shapwa Kanyama, said in a statement that Africure is a Namibian-registered company, 100% owned by previously disadvantaged Namibian citizens."Africure invested N$89 million to set up a factory in Namibia. The factory was set up with the aim of manufacturing pharmaceutical products, including ARVs.”The procurement board did not apply any price preference or local preference in respect of the local manufacturer in its tender evaluation."[Africure] is a local manufacturer and is entitled to certain price preferences. The obligation of the CPBN to apply the price preferences is a statutory obligation arising from the Public Procurement Act," it read.Kanyama further claimed that Africure - as a local manufacturer - qualifies for the price preferences in accordance with a directive the finance minister apparently issued in December 2020.According to Kanyama, the procurement board is obliged to comply with this directive."At the time of submitting [Africure]&#039;s tender, the board was under an obligation to comply with the directive and to allow [Africure] to benefit from the preferences set out in it," he said.According to him, CPBN acting chairperson Amon Ngavetene’s decision regarding the process by which the tender was awarded was unreasonable, irrational and done in disregard of the relevant directive.Foreign supplierAlthough Ngavetene conceded that Africure submitted a tender and is indeed a Namibian-registered company, he claimed that Africure - in its tender documents - indicated the company is a ‘packer’ that relies on a foreign manufacturer.This foreign manufacturer, according to Ngavetene, is not party to the court proceedings."In its tender documents, [Africure] submitted a certificate authorising the importation of medicines and scheduled drugs."The medicine registration certificate contained in the tender document identifies Mylan Laboratories as the &#039;manufacturer&#039; of the products," Ngavetene&#039;s statement read.The parties appeared before Judge Kobus Miller in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.– kristien@republikein.com.na

Another medical tender in court

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Another medical tender in court

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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