Agri ED under scrutiny over N$143m payments

Agriculture, water and land reform ministry executive director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata is facing scrutiny for allegedly authorising payments totalling N$143 million to a local company without a public tender and exceeding the ministry’s internal procurement threshold of N$25 million.

Documents seen by Namibian Sun show letters in which Nghituwamata instructed Treasury to process the payments, which were made over a four-month period.

The ministry awarded a 36-month contract to Agri Gro Namibia Pty Ltd in a joint venture with Ziara Energy and Investment (Pty) Ltd, to supply and deliver chemicals to green scheme irrigation projects.

Both contracts were signed on 6 December 2023.

Critics argue that the ministry violated the Public Procurement Act by approving tenders that exceeded its N$25 million threshold, reportedly without routing them through the prescribed public tender process.

Last week, Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) spokesperson Johanna Kambala confirmed that the ministry had not approached CPBN to facilitate these bids.

“The procurements in question were never submitted to CPBN for facilitation. It is not CPBN’s mandate to ensure compliance with the Public Procurement Act – that responsibility lies with the Procurement Policy Unit under the Ministry of Finance,” Kambala said.

Rich fertiliser

The Public Procurement Act of 2015 established CPBN and the Procurement Policy Unit (PPU) to regulate how public entities procure goods, works and services.

Payment records seen by Namibian Sun indicate that the ministry paid N$82.2 million to Agri Gro Namibia Pty Ltd on 29 January this year, followed by another N$61 million on 25 June.

In response to questions about the payments made this year, finance ministry spokesperson Wilson Shikoto told Namibian Sun last week that the PPU could not find any record of the agriculture ministry requesting an exemption from Section 8(a) of the Act, which would have allowed such large-scale procurement outside normal tender processes.

Instead, the ministry had sought approval under Section 4(2) for smaller emergency procurements within its legal limit.

“The estimated costs in the exemption request did not exceed the ministry’s applicable threshold,” Shikoto said.

Shikoto said the PPU will investigate the contracts and could refer the matter to the finance minister, police or Anti-Corruption Commission if violations are detected.

The PPU, headed by Pinehas Nsundano, has powers to investigate suspicious procurement matters, commission investigations and conduct performance audits.

Agriculture ministry responds

Ministry spokesperson Jennifer Paulus defended the contracts, saying the payments reflected increased deliveries since the contracts were awarded.

“Payments to suppliers are made based on deliveries and invoices, which vary depending on cropping seasons. The green scheme programme follows a 12-month planting cycle consisting of two seasons,” Paulus said.

She added that at the time of the award, the contracts were below the N$25 million procurement threshold.

“The figures cited represent total payments across all three bids over an extended period, not the value of any single contract,” she said.

“It is therefore important to distinguish between initial contract values at award stage and cumulative payments made post-award across different categories,” she added.

Paulus further explained that payments are processed biannually, consolidating multiple invoices over a six-month period, which can result in seemingly large disbursements that do not breach individual contract thresholds.