Bid to block N$400m diamond tender fails
THE attempt by Global Diamond Valuators Namibia to stop a N$480 million diamond evaluation tender, awarded to Gem Diamonds Namibia in 2019, which has since been effective, has failed.
The company, which has been the sole valuator of diamonds on behalf of the government for more than a decade, was informed on Tuesday afternoon by Windhoek High Court judge Eileen Rakow that its review application was dismissed with cost.
The court said Global Diamond Valuators Namibia took their time in instituting the suit, causing an undue delay of five months.
“In this instance, the review panel gave their decision on 30 July 2019, and these proceedings were only instituted on 20 December 2019. This is a delay of almost five months. When making a factual finding on these facts, the court concludes that the delay was indeed unreasonable,” said Rakow.
She said although Global Diamond Valuators Namibia believed the mines ministry would cancel the tender, there is no evidence it consistently followed up with the ministry if indeed it would cancel the tender.
Rakow said it would be in the public’s interest for the valuation services that are being provided by Gem Diamonds Namibia to continue, as the diamond industry is a significant role player in the economic landscape of Namibia.
Global Diamond Valuators Namibia who lost the bid sued the Central Procurement Board of Namibia, the review panel and the mines ministry over their decision to award the multi-million-dollar tender to Gem Diamonds Namibia, who, according to them, have failed to comply with the bidding criteria.
Gem Diamonds Namibia was awarded the N$480 million contract in May 2019 for a five-year period and has since received N$96 million per year for its services. The contract was concluded on 8 August 2019. The top three shortlisted companies were Gem Diamonds Namibia, which scored 97.50%; Prestige Diamonds, the second highest with 97.12%, and Kings Diamond, which is the third-ranked bidder with 95.31%.
The contract has been clouded with allegations of favouritism, overpricing and doctoring of scores.
Global Diamond Valuators Namibia claims Gem Diamonds Namibia should never have gotten the tender, as they failed to provide a total bid price on submission, amongst other things.
They also claim CPB awarded the tender to Gem Diamonds Namibia, which is asking N$60 to 80 million more than what they are currently charging the ministry.
However, the CPB has since denied the allegations.
In court documents, it claims it would not be in the interest of the public to cancel a tender that is nearly coming to an end.
According to the board, Gem Diamonds Namibia has been evaluating diamonds since 2019 and was paid for its services.
CPB has been adamant there is not enough evidence to back Global Diamond Valuators Namibia’s claims, as the bidding and awarding were done in compliance with the law.