Govt weighs action against official over N$40m AI deal

Government is considering action against a senior agriculture ministry official who allegedly authorised a controversial N$39.5 million artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite crop-monitoring agreement while acting in a more senior position.

Namibian Sun understands that attention has now shifted to accountability within the ministry after Cabinet ordered that the agreement with United States-based company 6th Grain Corporation be cancelled.

Government sources claim the official who allegedly authorised the agreement is a director within the ministry who was temporarily occupying a more senior role when the agreement was finalised.

Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda confirmed that the ministry is handling the matter internally, but declined to identify the official involved or discuss its delegation of powers.

“We are seized with the matter and are currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the signing of the agreement," he told Namibian Sun last week.

"The process is necessary to establish all the relevant facts and circumstances, which will subsequently inform any internal interventions or administrative measures that may be deemed necessary," Muyunda explained.

Muyunda said the ministry has to consider multiple aspects of what led to the deal, including the "authorisation, approval, delegated authority or possible action against the individual".

It is not yet clear who the official at the centre of the matter is, as the ministry has declined to identify the individual.

High-tech monitoring

The development follows government's announcement last week that it had formally terminated the Remote Sensing Agricultural Services Agreement with the US firm.

The one-year deal, which took effect on 16 June, was intended to establish a national crop-monitoring system using satellite imagery, geospatial analysis and artificial intelligence to map agricultural land and monitor crop and pasture health. It was also set to forecast production of staple crops, including maize, mahangu, sorghum, cowpea and wheat.

The US$2.4 million agreement also provided for 6th Grain to transfer software, AI models and technical expertise to the ministry and train officials to operate the system independently.

The technology Namibia intended to acquire was not new. In Rwanda, 6th Grain began a six-month project to deploy its remote-sensing engine and machine-learning models through the country's GeoHub to provide crop-production and yield estimates, field-boundary and crop-type mapping and other agricultural intelligence.

The system was designed to run on Rwanda Space Agency infrastructure, with training aimed at enabling government agencies to operate and expand it after deployment.

In Uzbekistan, 6th Grain and Right Click Solutions B.V. were contracted to implement a land-resource management information system based on remote-sensing technology under the World Bank-supported Agriculture Modernisation Project.

Uzbekistan's agriculture ministry said the companies won a tender conducted under World Bank requirements for the project, which included using satellite imagery to manage agricultural land and identify individual field boundaries.

6th Grain says its annual crop-mapping model has been deployed and validated across 18 countries, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa and Angola, and has covered more than 66 million hectares across four continents.

High-level decision

Government did not attribute the cancellation to the technology's performance.

“The decision follows a comprehensive review of the agreement and the circumstances surrounding its conclusion,” Muyunda said in a statement issued last week.

"The review established that the agreement did not meet the requisite legal and procedural requirements applicable to contractual arrangements entered into on behalf of the government,” the statement said.

The deal sparked public outcry and political controversy after it emerged in July, amid concerns over using a foreign company to monitor Namibia’s crop production.

The ministry said the termination followed high-level government discussions.

“The decision to terminate the agreement is intended to safeguard the interests of the state and to ensure that all contractual arrangements entered into on behalf of the government comply with applicable laws, policies, regulations and established procedures,” Muyunda said.