By Nankali za Muserengwa
OPUWO, July 15 — The awarding of a million consulting services contract by the Ondangwa Town Council to a company allegedly linked to the local authority’s Strategic Executive Infrastructure and Technical Services, Petrus Shipanga, has raised eyebrows.
The company, ALV Consulting Engineers CC, which was awarded engineering services contracts in three towns including Ondangwa Town Council, is not compliant with the regulations of the Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN) as it is part-owned by a non-engineer.
The ECN requires that the shareholders of engineering firms be qualified and registered engineers. The current shareholders of the company are Etuhole Shoopala and Stanley Gariseb.
The company’s registration documents show that ALV Consulting Engineers changed from Lipu Investments in 2020 where it was fully owned by Shoopala.
The company director Cletus Nyongesa, a Kenyan national married to Shoopala, has business cards indicating that he is a PR Engineer or fully registered engineer when he is not registered with the ECN.
According to sources, ALV Consulting awarded a N$3 million storm water drain construction contract in Opuwo to Omalenga Construction, a company owned by Shipanga the same year the ALV Consulting engineer being a non-compliant company, was awarded an engineering Consultancy contract at Ondangwa Town Council, resulting in a conflict of interest.
Questions have also been raised about how ALV Consulting Engineers met Procurement Act requirements to be awarded contracts by the Divundu Village Council, Opuwo Town Council, and Ondangwa Town Council when the firm is non-compliant with the Engineering Council f Namibia, at the expense of deserving firms.
Reliable sources say the Engineering Council of Namibia has already instituted a probe into the activities of ALV Consulting Engineers, Cletus Nyongesa and his wife, Etuhole Shoopala on the matter.
Contacted for comment the managing director of ALV Consulting Engineers Kletus Nyongesa denied that his company is non-compliant with ECN regulations he confirmed that his company was investigated in December last year but they have not heard the outcome of the probe.
“What are the guidelines of ECN? This is purely malicious and I know it is coming from our competitors. These are our colleagues who want to see us down,” he said.
Nyongesa further said that their company follow the act which regulates all engineering work in Namibia and got 5 qualified engineers both are Namibians.
When asked about N$ 3 million work his company recommended for Omalenga in Opuwo,Kanyongesa acknowledged it but denied any favouritism at play, ” look we recommended that company but that way back before we were appointed as consultants for Ondangwa town council” he concluded – Namibia Daily News.
