Namibia's state-owned Namib Desert Diamond (Namdia) will not renew the diamond evaluation contract of Nuska Technologies, according to the local media citing a senior government official.
Namdia appointed Nuska Technologies (then C-Sixty Investments) as a diamond evaluator in 2016 and the contract expires in October this year.
Enterprise minister Leon Jooste, however, refused to give reasons why the contract will not be renewed.
"If the board wants to appoint a valuator, they will ensure the provisions of the Procurement Act are adhered to. Best to ask this the board," he was quoted as saying by The Namibian.
Namdia board chairperson Bryan Eiseb and chief executive Kennedy Hamutenya failed to respond to questions sent by the daily.
Meanwhile, the mines ministry said in a statement that Israeli citizen Doron Cohen took overall operations and financial control of Nuska, replacing Namibians that established the company.
Cohen now owns a 60% stake in Nuska while other Israelis Anat Cohen-Shemes and Mier Cohen own a 20% stake in the company, respectively.
Then C-Sixty was accused of obtaining the contract to evaluate diamonds corruptly.
The contract was worth between N$600 million and N$1,5 billion over the five years.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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