Africa-Press – Namibia. WINDHOEK mayor Job Amupanda is continuing his beef with minister of higher education, training and innovation Itah Kandjii-Murangi over a student village.
Amupanda yesterday shared a letter Kandjii-Murangi on 8 September sent to minister of finance Iipumbi Shiimi on social media. This comes a few days after he questioned whether president Hage Geingob was aware of ministers’ alleged corrupt deals and whether he was part of these deals.
“Here is the LETTER by minister Kandjii-Murangi WRITTEN to finance LOBBYING for the Student Village Tender to be Organised OUTSIDE the ministry by her CRONIES, and indeed OUTSIDE procurement laws,” Amupanda posted.
In the letter he is referring to, the minister explains that her ministry is exploring a public-private partnership solution to build a new, modern student accommodation facility for around 3 000 students.
“The [ministry] with the assistance of the PPP Unit at the Ministry of Finance has had a feasibility study undertaken by its transaction advisers, Nice consulting Engineering (Pty) Ltd, whom it appointed on 1 October 2020,” Kandjii-Murangi wrote.
Although outside the procurement laws, Kandjii-Murangi requested Shiimi’s permission to make use of one of the state-owned enterprises under the management of her ministry to handle the procurement bidding process.
“In this regard, we intend to use the services of either the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) or the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust),” she said.
The use of the two institutions is what led to Amupanda’s enquiry, as Kandjii-Murangi chairs the NCHE. The minister has in the past been accused of mingling in Nust’s affairs, where some of her relatives are said to be employed. She yesterday told The Namibian the letter in question was only to seek guidance.
“I wrote to the minister of finance to seek guidance on whether it is permissible, due to the magnitude of the project and the lack of capacity within the [ministry], to make use of one of the public enterprises under the ministry to handle the procurement of the bidding process.
“The article in today’s paper answers all questions with regards to the above letter. The letter is a consultation to ensure smooth and transparent handling of this project,” Kandjii-Murangi said. The student village is envisaged to be constructed on 15 hectares of land in Khomasdal, which has already been secured from the City of Windhoek.
