Healthcare procurement scandal reflects poor governance

A Namibian think tank has called for an in-depth investigation into procurement practices in the healthcare system, saying that the healthcare sector has been a “persistent governance challenge”.

Frederico LinksThe Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) released its latest procurement tracker in Windhoek on Thursday.

Research associate Frederico Links said in his presentation that the ministry’s procurement processes, both in buying medicines and other tenders, require full transparency and increased oversight.

“It seems obvious that what needs to happen first, parallel to the ongoing criminal probes, is for a wide-ranging investigation to be commissioned and conducted into why health ministry procurement has been such a stubborn and persistent governance challenge,” Links said.

He said corruption in the healthcare sector has been ongoing and regularly reported on for the past decade.

He cited the example of Bernard Haufiku’s case in 2015.

The former health minister handed over files to the Anti-Corruption Commission that he thought held clear evidence of corruption in procurement at the health ministry.

The investigation has still not been concluded.

However, Links said his organisation has been raising these issues for years, and that the solutions have been mentioned again and again.

There are two laws, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 and the Access to Information Act of 2022, that have been passed and not implemented.

“Folks, that’s not how it’s supposed to happen. It’s so irregular to pass a law and then leave it on the books,” Links said.

Parliament has faced strong criticism over the past two years as only budget and appropriation bills have been passed. If laws have been passed, they should be implemented, Links said.

“This is what passes for lawmaking and rule of law in this country. This is not how parliament is supposed to work,” he said.

He said there was a strong case to pilot an e-procurement system in the health ministry.

“Implement e-procurement in clinical and pharmaceutical contracting to reduce opportunities for corruption and improve reporting and data gathering,” his report recommends.

IPPR director Graham Hopwood says international standards require transparency in contracts.

The government has faced criticism over several contracts it has awarded, not because they are corrupt but simply because the public cannot verify the contracts, he said.

“Rather than responding to these individually, it would be a good moment for the president to launch a comprehensive integrity agenda,” Hopwood says.

He says requiring officials to declare their assets to the public and implementing the access to information law would be simple steps that would increase public trust around the government’s procurement processes.

Hopwood says there must be transparency around who really owns and controls companies.

“We’re going backwards in this area.

The Business and Intellectual Property Authority used to make that public, but has now stopped that practice,” Hopwood says.

Independent Patriots for Change parliamentarian Rodney Cloete on Saturday called for the beneficial ownership of companies to be made available to the public, stating that it erodes public trust to hide information about the ultimate control of companies.

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