The Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) says it has procured goods and services worth N$18.96 billion since its inception in 2017 on behalf of public entities.
Information glimpsed by The Brief shows that goods and services valued at N$6.8 billion were acquired through direct procurement, and N$4.7 billion through competitive bidding while N$7.4 billion was spent on transitional procurement matters.
The latest development comes at a time Finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi appointed Amon Ngavetene as the Acting Chairperson of the CPBN with effect from 1st April 2022.
The appointment of Ngavetene follows the departure of Patrick Swartz, the founding Chairperson and Administrative Head of CPBN and Lischen Ramakhutla, founding Deputy Chairperson and Deputy Administrative Head of CPBN, whose terms ended on 31st March 2022.
Swartz and Ramakhutla were appointed by the then Finance minister, Carl Schletwein, on 01 April 2017 for a period of five years.
“Ngavetene will also head the operations of CPBN as Acting Head Administrator during his time of appointment. He was appointed as a CPBN board member by the same Minister on 1 March 2021 for a period of three years,” CPBN Spokesperson Johanna Kambala said.
Finance Minister Shiimi recently indicated his desire to split the roles of the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer at CPBN.
The current CPBN structure, which provides for a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson who are full-time employees of the CPBN, with dual roles as Administrative Head and Deputy Administrative, has been criticised for being outdated and not in sync with modern corporate governance best practices.
The revised structure will result in the appointment of a new CEO.
The Central Procurement Board came into existence in 2017, through the Public Procurement Act of 2015.
