The Ministry of Finance is pushing ahead with structural changes at the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN).
Finance minister Ipumbu Shiimi this week tabled in Parliament amendments to the current Public Procurement Act, which seeks to split the roles of the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer.
The move comes as the CPBN’s current structure, where its Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson 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employees of the CPBN, with dual roles as Administrative Head and Deputy Administrative, has been criticised for being outdated and not in sync with modern corporate governance best practices.
“Amendenment of the the Public Procurement Bill amends section 11 of the Act to separate the roles of the Chairperson of the CPBN with that of the Accounting Officer and also to abolish the position of the Deputy Accounting Officer,” Shiimi said in Parliament on Thursday while motivating for the amendments.
“In particular, the Presidential High Level Panel on the Namibian Economy has advised and recommended the separation of these roles as a matter of urgency in order to ensure good corporate governance at the CPBN.”
The revised structure will result in the appointment of a new CEO.
Shiimi also amended Section 11 of the Act to allow him as Finance minister to extend the term of office for the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson as well as ordinary members of the CPBN or to appoint board of directors of CPBN on a shorter period, a position which he said will avoid having vacancies on the board, a development which may affect the quorum and effectiveness of the Board.
“This amendment is particularly urgent considering that the current terms of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the CPBN are coming to an end at the end of this Month, March 2022,” he said.
Patrick Swarts and Lischen Ramakutla are currently Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the CPBN respectively.
The CPBN currently consists of nine board members appointed by the finance minister, while the chairperson and deputy chairperson are appointed on a five-year term on a full-time basis, the remaining seven board members are part-time and serve for three years only.
Shiimi’s amendments also introduces a new appeal process, whereby an aggrieved bidder will be able to first ask the public entity to reconsider its decision free of any charges and only approaches the CPBN Review Panel when not satisfied with the outcome of the reconsideration.
“This has the potential to decongest the load at the Review Panel and to alleviate the cost implications on bidders, especially SMEs as there are no costs involved when applying for reconsideration. The amendment also prevents Accounting Officers from awarding a contract or signing any agreement during the standstill period or while in review,” he said.
The Central Procurement Board came into existence in 2017, through the Public Procurement Act of 2015.
