Wakudumo ‘meddles’ in Kavango sewage tender

A three-year tender to remove sewage from septic tanks at all government buildings in the region by the Kavango East regional council has not been well received by governor Bonifatius Wakudumo, who has ordered that the process be cancelled or else the administrators will face serious consequences.

This is according to a copy of a letter dated 2 March that Wakudumo wrote to Kavango East acting chief regional officer Ludgelia Nangura, in which he ordered her to cancel the process of awarding the tender.

The tender in question is for the removal of household refuse and pumping out of septic tanks at government buildings in Kavango East Region for a period of three years.

“This letter is directed to the chairperson of the Kavango East Regional Council, hence it is to inform you as the acting chief regional officer to immediately cancel any work related to the bid stated in the letter, you are hereby directed to stop any work in progress to award of this contract,” Wakudumo wrote.

“Kindly note that failure to adhere to this directive will have serious consequences and it should not be regarded as a threat but a warning.”

When contacted, Nangura declined to comment on the matter.

Wakudumo’s powers questioned

Meanwhile a source highly placed in the regional council said he was surprised by Wakudumo’s letter.

The source, who is privy to the awarding of this tender, said that as much as Wakudumo enjoys the privilege of sitting in on regional council meetings, he has no say on issues pertaining to tenders.

“The procedure of having a tender cancelled is public information. The unsuccessful bidders who lost out on a tender should in writing after being informed of not making it, lay their complaints in the time allocated and it will be looked into. That is done way before the procedure reaches the awarding stage,” the source said.

“For the governor to come now and try and influence the regional council on administrative issues, it is way beyond his pay grade. He must remember that being a political appointee by the president also has limits.

“Of course, people can go to his office to complain but he must not directly interfere with the work of other institutions. If he succeeds to get this tender process cancelled, it will be a wrong precedent set and the only right thing to happen is for Maghambayi to inform Wakudumo that he has no power to order that a tender be cancelled.”

Maghambayi is currently in Zimbabwe together with Wakudumo and other regional leaders.

When contacted for comment, Maghambayi said he was not aware of Wakudumo’s letter.

Maghambayi hinted that the governor does not have the power to interfere, but said he would look into the matter.

“To be honest I did not receive the letter yet. That is purely administrative issue and I don’t see how it can be cancelled but let me just see what the governor is looking at,” Maghambayi said.

Implications of cancellation

The source within the regional council further explained that if Wakudumo succeeds in having the tender cancelled, it would mean that the funds would be returned to treasury as the financial year is ending shortly.

“What will happen is that the funds for this tender will be returned to treasury, which means that come next financial year, Kavango East will receive a reduced budget because they did not use the funds allocated to them by the region,” the source explained.

“Over the years we have been complaining about Kavango Region being so under-developed but now we know that our leaders are making such decisions which negatively impact the region.”

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