WINDHOEK: Government will announce who the successful bidder for the renovation of the Independence Stadium is by 28 August 2024, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has said.
She made the statement during a dinner hosted by the vice president’s office to welcome the senior national men’s football team, the Brave Warriors, back home after they finished as runners-up at the recently concluded Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup held in South Africa.
The vice president’s comments came after Namibia Football Association (NFA) Executive Council member Michael Situde pleaded with the government to renovate the Independence Stadium in Windhoek, a process which is being hampered by the procurement process.
‘Can we assist the Ministry of Youth and Sports to fast-track these provisions? We are pleading with the Namibians involved in this process to fast-track this process so that when we play our next matches in March, we play at home. We as the NFA are also communicating with FIFA to h
elp our government in this process,’ he said.
Situde also called on the various regional councils with which they have been engaging to provide land to the NFA for it to construct offices in different regions.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said it is unfortunate that the Brave Warriors are at a point where their fans cannot see them play, but this will soon be something of the past.
‘I don’t like this word ‘work in progress.’ I have been following the renovation of the stadium and the law put in place is working against us. Money is not a problem, the problem is people who complain when the tender is given to someone,’ she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah further expressed the hope that legalities will not hamper the appointment of a contractor.
’28 August or before that is the date that has been set to announce the successful bidder for the renovation of the stadium,’ Nandi-Ndaitwah said while stating that the Brave Warriors will be competing at home by March 2025.
The vice president was referring to the Public Procurement Act 1
5 of 2015, which regulates the procurement of goods, works and services, the letting or hiring of anything, or the acquisition or granting of rights for or on behalf of, and the disposal of assets of public entities.
In the procurement process, parts four, five, and six involve accounting officers, internal structures, and bid evaluation, as well as all the methods of procurement and the bidding process that need to be followed before awarding a tender to successful bidders.
The Central Procurement Board of Namibia must follow all these processes in the awarding of a tender.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency