Africa-Press – Namibia. THE state-owned Roads Authority (RA) is investigating how it almost bought 17 vehicles for N$16 million in a mysterious transaction that was not officially sanctioned by the company.
The vehicles, which include motorcycles, pickups and Volkswagen Polo GTIs, were supposedly purchased for the parastatal’s road safety unit.
The price of the vehicles appeared to be inflated, raising further alarm.
A Roads Authority source has told The Namibian that one of the pickups on the list was to cost the parastatal about N$1,2 million, while the same vehicle sells at N$800 000 on the showroom floors of Windhoek’s vehicle dealerships.
And a Volkswagen Polo GTI, which normally costs between N$400 000 and N$500 000, would have cost the RA N$800 000.
RA spokesperson Hileni Fillemon says chief executive officer (CEO) Conrad Lutombi ordered an investigation into this matter in April this year.
She says Lutombi acted after an attempt to purchase the vehicles was flagged as suspicious.
Fillemon says the attempted purchase was not in line with the parastatal’s procurement rules.
“The CEO’s opinion was that the user division did not use the correct procurement method,” she told The Namibian last Friday.
She said Lutombi issued a directive to stop the procurement process of the vehicles and directed the road safety unit to consult procurement management on the correct procurement method.
He did this in addition to directing an internal audit to probe whether the correct procedure and processes were followed.
The audit process is currently in progress.
Some of the vehicles were allegedly delivered to the RA head office in Windhoek, which is what alerted Lutombi to the questionable deal.
Fillemon, however, disputed this, saying the vehicles were brought to the RA head office for display and show purposes and to confirm availability.
She said no purchase was made and that it merely involved a request for quotations extended.
It then came to light the RA’s procurement rules were not followed.
No public tender was advertised, nor was the fleet management department involved in the transaction.
Apart from an internal audit instituted at Lutombi’s insistence, no one has been held accountable.
“No action has been taken yet. This is pending the results of an audit which was instituted by the CEO,” Fillemon said.
There is, however, speculation that senior managers at the parastatal may have received kickbacks in the form of vehicles and money to push the deal through.
It is also alleged that the lack of money in the RA’s bank account contributed to blocking the transaction, which was allegedly rushed to ensure it was pushed through before the financial year ended in April.
Sources at the parastatal say the RA has a long-term fleet agreement with Avis Fleet, which is part of the Avis car rental group.
According to this agreement Avis Fleet provides the RA with vehicles at a price said to be below market value or showroom prices.
Avis Fleet also does maintenance on the vehicles.
In this instance the road safety unit appears to have decided to sidestep the fleet management department and appointed another company to supply and deliver the vehicles.
According to Fillemon, normal procedure is when respective business units and divisions identify their needs, including vehicle specifications, and are required to draft a submission to the RA’s procurement management committee (PMC) for endorsement.
If supported by the PMC, submissions are then sent to the CEO’s office for approval or disapproval.
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