Controversial Gumare-Mohembo road project subjected to audit

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Noah Salakae, has revealed that he has initiated an internal audit of this project to identify what transpired, starting with the chronology of events, together with the internal human resources involved.

He said that the Government cannot afford to have such cases repeat themselves and have officials and contractors who are a liability to the Government by their compromised decision-making.

Each section, which is executed through two distinct contracts, has long been marred by controversy. The procurement of the two contracts began in May 2021 through open tender/competitive bidding and was awarded in October 2022, at an initial cost of P102,878,279.70 for Gumare-Sepopa and P97,368,989.73 for Sepopa-Mohembo road, with commencement dates set for November 2022, to last

15 months. Salakae stated that the initial scope of these projects was asphalt overlaying on all the sections of the road.

Unfortunately, due to the passage of time between procurement and award, and given the age of the road, the road deteriorated to a point where an asphalt overlay became inappropriate by the time the contracts were awarded.

The minister explained that the scope of works was therefore changed to include the reconstruction and widening of the road. Furthermore, the scope was increased to include the construction of access roads, namely, Etsha 1 (1.7km), Etsha 6 (3km), Etsha 13 (3.2km), Ikoga (2.8km), Sepopa (1.9km), Kajaja (1.2km), Nxamasere (1km), Samochima (0.9km), Shakawe Police (1.5km), Shakawe Airstrip (0.5km), and Mohembo Kgotla, he stated.

The minister revealed that the addition of these access roads to the project was triggered by the application of the Access Roads Policy due to the shift to reconstruction.

According to Salakae, considering the revised Scope of Works, each of the two sections was further apportioned into two packages depending on the type of works to be executed because the variation of scope amount was beyond the allowable threshold of 25 percent above the initial contract sum.

The new package was awarded by direct appointment because contractors were already on site.

Progress as recorded at the end of June 2025 is as follows: For the Gumare-Sepopa section: (a) Package One, being on the second stretch of 36.2 km of the Gumare-Sepopa section, entailing shoulder reconstruction and widening, and asphalt overlaying stood at 57 percent against 100 percent planned.

Package Two, which is the first 36.7 km of the Gumare-Sepopa section, entailing the cold recycling of the road and the reconstruction of access roads to Etsha 1 (1.7km), Etsha 6 (3km), Etsha 13 (3.2km), and Ikoga (2.8km), stood at 72 percent against 100 percent planned.

'The contractual completion date was 18 November 2024 for Package One and Five February 2025 for Package Two, but these have not been met,' Salakae said.

He revealed that regarding the Sepopa-Mohembo section: Progress on Package One, being 64 km of the Sepopa-Mohembo road, entailing asphalt overlaying of the road, was at eight percent against 100 percent; and Multiple Sections, adding up to 10km of the Sepopa-Mohembo section.

Package Two, entailing the cold recycling of the road and the construction of village kgotla access roads to Sepopa (1.9km), Kajaja (1.2km), Nxamasere (1km), Samochima (0.9km), and Mohembo (1.2km), as well as access roads to Shakawe Police (1.5km) and Shakawe Airstrip (0.5km), was at 25 percent against 100 percent planned.

The minister further told Parliament that the contractual completion dates were 18 November 2024 and 15 February 2025, respectively, and have also not been realised.

“In view of the lapsed time for completion, the ministry has received claims for extension of time with related costs for both projects as follows: With respect to the Gumare-Sepopa contract, the claim for extension of time is 16.4 months on Package One and 9.8 months on Package Two; and Regarding the Sepopa-Mohembo contract, the claim for extension of time is 12 months on Package One and one month on Package Two.”

These claims for extension of time and related costs, Salakae said, are mainly in relation to: time taken to finalise the change of Scope of Works, time taken to finalise design for cold-recycling and shoulder construction, and time taken to find appropriate gravel sources for the construction of works which were initially not contemplated.

“The claims are at various stages, with some having been referred for dispute resolution between the Ministry and contractors. Thus, disclosure of any further details may prejudice the Ministry's position going forward.

Therefore, allow me to revert with further details in the future briefing to Parliament after the resolution of the claims and disputes.

Ultimately to complete the projects, my Ministry plans to expedite resolution of these outstanding contractual matters”, he said, when responding to a question from MP for Okavango West Kenny

Kapinga, who asked the Minister to give an update on progress made in the project to refurbish the A33 road from Gumare to Mohembo; especially the Sepopa/Mohembo section which appears to have failed to take off.