Oshana region will spend N$118,162,700.00 for tenders which will be rolled out during this financial year.
This was revealed at an engagement meeting with local business people on 9 May 2025, where the regional government invited local businesses to grab the opportunity once the tenders are released throughout the year.
Presenting the region’s Annual Procurement Plan, Mrs Teopolina Hamutumua, Oshana Region’s Chief Regional Officer, said that the N$118,2 million “is earmarked to be spent in this region on local goods, local services, and local people”.
Hamutumua stated that the regional government and the business community are not strangers, but partners.
“Ours is a symbiotic relationship, where the success of one strengthens the other. The Council is mandated to execute the Annual Procurement Plan in alignment with the appropriated budget.”
Hamutumua added that the regional government has become wiser and will no longer be taken for a ride by unethical business people.
“Council has become wiser. We now compare each item in your quotation to market prices. If you inflate, underquote, or shuffle numbers just to fall within the 10% budget threshold, be warned: even the most responsive bid can be disqualified for dishonesty.”
She also called on businesses to bid within their registered business scope.
“This is not the time to experiment. If you are registered to supply stationery, resist the urge to bid for a road construction. Which you know very well you do not have the capacity to build.
“On procurement integrity, I will be very direct: bribery is a dead-end street. No single official of Oshana Regional Council, no matter how persuasive they may sound, can unilaterally facilitate the awarding of a contract to you.
“The procurement process involves multiple layers of review and is governed by law.”
While the business engagement meeting was not well attended, it was an opportunity for those who turned up to give suggestions how the regional government’s procurement processes can be improved.
In the photo: Oshana Region’s Chief Regional Officer Mrs Teopolina Hamutumua speaking to the local business people.
