NAC accused of corruption

The company that has been providing ground-handling services at the Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) since 2014, Menzies Aviation Namibia, has claimed that the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) carried out an illegal tender process and award.

Menzies claimed, based on new information that has recently come to light, that the tender was allegedly illegally awarded to Paragon Investment Holdings. NAC has denied the allegations.

Parties appeared before Judge Eileen Rakow in the Windhoek High Court on Tuesday.

Background

In June last year, the NAC submitted an urgent application to the High Court for a court order forcing Menzies to vacate the HKIA premises. The basis for this application was that Menzies' contract for ground-handling services expired on 30 June 2022 and Paragon was meant to take over on 1 July 2022.

Menzies submitted a counter-claim that the tender was unlawfully awarded to Paragon.

The court ruled in the NAC's favour and an order was issued for Menzies to leave the premises. The company then appealed the judgment in the Supreme Court, and this appeal is still pending.

In the meantime, the NAC has agreed for Menzies to provide ground-handling services at the airport until the appeal application is concluded.

During recent proceedings, Menzies challenged the accuracy of the record and the validity of the tender award, and sought leave to file a supplementary affidavit.

‘Invalid’ tender award

Menzies filed an application with the court requesting an interdict against NAC, prohibiting it from implementing a contract with Paragon that was entered into on the basis of the tender process.

According to a statement by Menzies director, Ian Michael van Rooyen, they have reason to believe that the tender process was carried out illegally and unfairly and that the agreement between Paragon and NAC, therefore, is invalid. They further demanded that the tender process start again from scratch.

"The agreement for ground-handling services has not been legally awarded to anyone and therefore the tender process must start from scratch. We request that Menzies continue to provide the services for the time being," it read.

‘Corruption and forgery’

Menzies claimed that the NAC submitted three different versions of the review record to the court. They got a handwriting expert, Yvette Palm, to inspect the documents. She concluded that the document the NAC identified as the original tender application was believed to contain several deviations and shortcomings.

Menzies also claimed that the first two versions of the review record, submitted to the court in May 2022, vary from the third submitted in August.

"The NAC cannot justify why they have different copies of Paragon's tender application, unless they received it before the official tender process or it was changed afterwards," Van Rooyen said in his statement.

"It is clear that there is an aspect of corruption and forgery in relation to Paragon's application."

Van Rooyen further argued that the NAC initially made a mistake when it submitted documents that it was not supposed to have in its possession.

"By releasing those documents, they have opened a can of worms that they must now try to fix."

‘Unfounded’

According to NAC CEO Gerson Adolf /Uirab, the corruption allegations are unfounded.

"The NAC has reason to believe that Menzies only wants to hinder the transition to Paragon," he said.

Meanwhile, Paragon's director for business development Desmond Amunyela said Menzies has no evidence to support its allegations.

Menzies has applied for the court's permission to amend its initial affidavit or submit a supplementary affidavit to include this new information and findings from Palm's investigation.

The NAC and Paragon have opposed the application.

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