NTA gets N$540m hostel food tender without public bids

The education ministry has awarded the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) a six-month N$540 million contract to supply and deliver food to government school hostels without going to public tender, citing years of litigation and concerns over food security for hostel learners.

Ministry executive director Erastus Haitengela confirmed to Namibian Sun that the ministry had approached finance minister Ericah Shafudah for approval to exceed internal procurement thresholds and award the contract directly through a public entity.

“Yes, the ministry approached the minister of finance, requesting an exemption to exceed the threshold for the procurement of the supply and delivery of foodstuffs to government school hostels through execution by public entity,” Haitengela told Namibian Sun.

He said six public entities were engaged in the procurement process.

“Six public entities were engaged in the procurement process for the supply and delivery of foodstuffs to government school hostels, and NTA became the responsible bidder,” he said.

The ministry said the decision was driven by efforts to find a more financially sustainable procurement arrangement while reducing litigation risks associated with the procurement of hostel food supplies.

“The reason for considering NTA was necessitated by the need to explore more avenues to enable a more financially sustainable procurement arrangement with limited litigation risks,” Haitengela explained.

“The need emanates from the history of prolonged and frequent litigation persisting to date,” he added.

“The recurring court cases have placed a significant burden on the ministry, compromising food security for our hostel dwellers. It is against this background that the ministry has realised the need to engage selected public entities in terms of Section 34(c) of the Public Procurement Act,” Haitengela said.

The ministry said the arrangement is expected to cost more than N$90 million per month, translating to about N$540 million over six months.

“The contract is for a period of six months as an interim measure while awaiting the finalisation of the court case for a three-year open national bidding process at the Supreme Court of Namibia,” Haitengela said.

The programme covers 239 government school hostels accommodating 77 281 learners nationwide.

Urgent measures

Government has increasingly moved towards using public entities for procurement.

Speaking to this publication in March, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah cautioned that inflated prices charged by intermediaries undermine public spending and delay critical national projects.

“We are not against middlemen,” she said. “But they must be realistic.”

Namibian Sun reported last month that local businesses had raised concerns over the increasing allocation of major government projects and services to state-owned enterprises rather than opening them to private sector competition.

The businesses argued that bypassing open tender processes on contracts of this magnitude could reduce competition, limit opportunities for local businesses and make it more difficult to test whether the government is receiving value for money.

The Public Procurement Act of 2015 states that competitive procurement processes are designed to promote transparency, encourage price competition and reduce perceptions of favouritism in the allocation of public contracts.

Local resources

Asked how a training authority would be able to provide food supply services, NTA chief executive officer Erick Nenghwanya said the institution will rely heavily on local producers and suppliers.

“We are sourcing locally on items like veggies, maize and meat," he said, adding that only items like jams and sugar and other western items are being outsourced.

He said the NTA had already started delivering food supplies under the arrangement.

“We started to provide the food on 1 July 2026, and everyone is happy; we are doing well."

Procurement Policy Unit (PPU) executive director, Phineas Nsundano, confirmed that the finance ministry had sought technical advice from his office after receiving the education ministry's request.

“The letter requesting this is not addressed to us as PPU but directly to the minister of finance," Nsundano said.

“She then asked us or our department for advice as the advisory team on what to do. We have submitted the advice to her already."

He stressed that procurement decisions ultimately remain the responsibility of the procuring entity.

“Whatever decision the ministry of education is going to take is entirely up to them,” he said.

Section 27 of the Public Procurement Act governs the choice of procurement methods available to public entities, Nsundano said.

“That section speaks of choices of procurement methods. Our typical response to these types of procurement is that they should undertake a method that abides by the law," he said.

He added that the PPU avoids directing public entities to adopt specific procurement methods in order to avoid assuming responsibility for procurement decisions.

“We cannot say they should use this or that. Then, if something goes wrong, we are responsible,” Nsundano said.