Ministry fights to overturn ‘flawed’ P662m tender
A panel of five Court of Appeal judges last Wednesday reserved judgement in a case in which the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education and Emeritus Training Academy Botswana (Pty) Ltd are challenging a High Court order made in Maun.
Justice Bugalo Maripe had ruled in favour of TecBoe (Pty) Ltd to suspend the ministry’s direct appointment of Emeritus Training Institute for the procurement of curriculum services for integrated e-learning solutions in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM).
The Public Procurement and Regulatory Authority (PPRA) later joined the proceedings, seeking the court’s intervention in the tender award on grounds that it had uncovered irregularities after conducting an investigation around the tender.
The ministry argued that the proceedings at the High Court were flawed to the point that the parties were not served with relevant documents, the applicant TecBoe (Pty) Ltd was granted relief it had not requested, and PPRA which was not among the litigants, was awarded relief it had not sought.
The Maun High Court judgment was handed down on August 25th, 2025.
“Despite the limited interim nature of the relief sought, and notwithstanding that the application against PPRA had been withdrawn and the investigation concluded, the court a quo proceeded to grant final relief by adopting the PPRA administrative directive as an order of the court. This appeal challenges that decision as irregular, ultra vires, and made without jurisdiction,” the ministry said in its heads of argument.
Furthermore, during the expedited appeal, the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education argued that the lower court should not have entertained the proceedings since they did not comply with procedures and fell far short of the requirements of a properly constituted case.
The ministry further said that its appeal should be upheld and that the documents filed by TecBoe (Pty) Ltd were not in order, ambiguous, and served outside prescribed timelines.
Emeritus Training Academy supported the appeal saying that the High Court Judge made many errors that caused confusion and contravened the rules.
Justices Mercy Garekwe, Isaac Lesetedi, Tshepho Motswagole, and Lot Moroka presided over the case led by Judge President Tebogo Tau.
