MTC tender stinks again

CATHERINE SASMAN



The N$60 million MTC advertising contract is once again causing a stink, with one of the bidders now demanding answers.

Advantage Y&R, through their lawyers, Nixon Marcus Public Law Office, wrote to MTC on 20 February demanding to know why the company had not responded to a previous letter, which had raised serious concerns about the bidding process.

According to insiders Advantage came out tops in the initial evaluation and was recommended by the MTC evaluation team, which included the company’s top management.

However, when this recommendation was taken to the board, it was allegedly shot down by MTC board chairperson Elvis Nashilongo, who appointed a new panel to evaluate the tender and call for new presentations by the bidders.

Namibian Sun understands the panel included three external members who ended up recommending awarding the tender to Adforce Namibia.

In its letter to MTC Advantage said the outcome of the original round of pitches was supposed to be announced by the end of September last year, but was postponed until an MTC board meeting in October.

After the board meeting, the new “independent panel” required a second pitch presentation. Advantage said no reason was given why it had to make a second pitch.

“We would like to understand why the BOD [board of directors] felt it necessary to embark on this additional presentation and the appointment of this panel. We understood there was no MTC involvement in the new panel, other than being observers in the process,” Advantage wrote in January.

Advantage demanded to know how, and by whom, the new panel had been selected, and whether MTC specialists and senior management had approved its formation.

Further, it wanted to know what the brief of this panel was and whether there was consistency between the outcomes of the first and second pitch presentations.

The MTC management has seemingly washed its hands.

“The MTC management team did not approve of this process and distanced themselves from this tender award as it was in their view unprocedural for the chairman to interfere in internal processes and appoint his own panel that must make recommendations to him,” a source told Namibian Sun.

With no response from MTC, Advantage’s legal representative again wrote to MTC on 20 February, demanding an answer.

Nixon Marcus said the letter was written to MTC to give it an opportunity to “reassess the fairness of the tender process before making a final decision on the award of the tender”.

“MTC, which as a result of the substantial state ownership and control provides an important public function, is under an obligation to act fairly in the adjudication and award of tenders. This duty includes an obligation to provide reasons when requested to do so by interested parties such as our client,” Nixon Marcus wrote to MTC.

Both MTC and Adforce did not comment at the time of going to press yesterday.

‘Not true’

Nashilongo, who is currently in Barcelona, Spain, where he is attending the World Mobile Congress (WMC), rubbished the allegations, saying they were “ridiculous and aimed at fulfilling a set agenda”.

“The board will therefore not be drawn in that circus,” Nashilongo responded curtly, adding: “Our collective actions on strategic matters as directors remain above board and we welcome any review, but not via the media.”

Controversy

The MTC contract has been a source of controversy over the years and is also featuring in a High Court trial.

Former MTC board chairman Dirk Conradie and a friend of his, Sarah Damases, are being prosecuted on three charges under the Anti-Corruption Act.

Both Conradie and Damases denied guilt on the charges in 2016.

At a secret meeting Conradie had allegedly offered to corruptly influence the awarding of the MTC advertising tender to DV8 Saatchi & Saatchi if it would give Damases a black economic empowerment (BEE) equity in the company.