Omusati Governor Immanuel Shikongo has urged accounting and procurement officials from government ministries and agencies in the region to uphold fiscal discipline, maintain ethical conduct and address delays, inefficiencies and eroding public trust within the procurement processes.
Shikongo was speaking at the regional consultations on the proposed amendments to the Public Procurement Act of 2015 at Nakayale VTC.
The consultations aim to gather inputs from key stakeholders to ensure that the proposed amendments are inclusive, practical, and responsive to governance needs.
Participants proposed changes to the Act, such as the prohibition of bidders and vendors whose performance in a previous public contract has been deficient and the appointment of board members on renewable three-year contracts.
While acknowledging the vital role of procurement, Shikongo says that unethical practices and lack of due diligence often undermine public trust and hinder development.
"Too often, the omission of important information in these documents leads to unnecessary delays, as bidders quickly take advantage of these gaps to challenge and halt the processes. This not only disrupts service delivery but also forces the government into costly legal battles over issues that could have been avoided with due diligence and attention to detail."
"We are introducing a provision to say whose performance in a previous public contract has been deficient. If you didn't perform, please don't come in the next one. We need to work with people that want to do their work," said Linus Hamukoto of the Procurement Reform.
Tsandi Village Council's CEO, Kephas Haitembu, shared his views on the reform consultation platform.
"It has been a long time without amending the Procurement Act. Because of the challenges which have been affecting the country's progress in terms of procurement, I think it came at the right time."
The consultations are conducted by the Interministerial Technical Committee on the Public Procurement Reform of the Ministry of Finance.