The Ministry of Education has announced that all government school hostels are now stocked with sufficient food for the next six months.

To ensure uninterrupted provision of food items for school hostels, the education ministry sought authorisation for emergency procurement from the Ministry of Finance. 

The request was granted, enabling the ministry to procure the necessary food items for government school hostels countrywide for the next six months while the legal challenges related to the procurement process are being resolved. 

At the end of March, the ministry announced that the ruling of the review panel had ordered them to cancel and restart the procurement process for the supply and delivery of food items to government school hostels due to legal challenges raised by a few bidders. 

Due to the cancellation order, learners residing in school hostels were faced with the possibility of being without food from the beginning of this month. 

This is because the contracts of previous service providers ended on 31 March and could not be extended due to the limitations imposed by the approved exemption from the Ministry of Finance. 

The three-year procurement arrangements managed by the Central Procurement Board of Namibia are nearing finalisation.