Exclusion of Namibians from awarding of public contracts will not be tolerated – Nekundi

Works and transport minister Veikko Nekundi has issued a firm directive regarding the awarding of contracts to locals, emphasising the importance of transparency, national interest and local participation in public contracts and operations.

While accompanying prime minister Elijah Ngurare during a courtesy call at the Namibian Ports Authority on Monday at Walvis Bay, Nekundi reinforced the government’s stance on prioritising national interests, stating that he would no longer tolerate the exclusion of Namibians in the awarding of public contracts for projects.

“There must be transparency and local participation in all public contracts and operations under my ministry, including Namport,” he stated.

Nekundi referenced Articles 40 and 41 of the Namibian Constitution, underlining his accountability to the people of Namibia for the conduct of ministries and state-owned enterprises under his portfolio.

“There is a tendency in Namibia that people believe politicians must not speak on affairs of prime institutions, but the Constitution is clear, I may not interfere, but I will intervene in the national interest,” he expressed.

He made it clear that, while respecting the autonomy of institutions, he would not hesitate to give direction where national interests are at stake. He also stressed that he would not favour management simply for the sake of internal alignment, especially in instances where public contracts excluded Namibians.

“These things of issuing hundreds of millions [in contracts] and money flowing outside the country cannot continue. Local participation is paramount,” he said.

Nekundi noted that if a project involves 10 subcontractors, at least one-third must be Namibian. Similarly, a third of employees on any given project must be from the region in which the project is being implemented.

“This is not negotiable, it is a directive and it must be followed.”

Nekundi also expressed strong disapproval of the use of bureaucratic language such as “work in progress” or “in the pipeline”, stating that such terms are ambiguous and non-committal. He relayed president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s instruction to abandon such phrasing in favour of actionable delivery timelines.

“The president gave us three months to deliver. No more ‘pipeline’ projects.
Deliverables must have a beginning and an end.”