Accountability concerns as oil and gas oversight falls under Presidency

Following the removal of deputy prime minister and minister of industries, mines and energy Natangue Ithete, the overview of the oil and gas sector now lies outside parliament.

After firing Ithete on Sunday, president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah assumed responsibility for the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy immediately.

When she took office in March, Nandi-Ndaitwah moved the management of the oil and gas sector directly under the Office of the President with the creation of the Upstream Petroleum Unit under the Presidency.

All People’s Party president Ambrosius Kumbwa describes the move by the president as undemocratic.

Kumbwa on Sunday told The Namibian that such a sector ought to be under parliament jurisdiction, not outside, as this now means the legislature has no say.

“This speaks to autocratic governance. Because you cannot hijack all the administration as the president into your office. For which you only depend on advice on what to do. That is Swapo’s plan, to nullify parliamentary duties and responsibilities,” he said.

Kumbwa said in the long run parliament might not be able to tell the president where she is going wrong.

He claimed the president’s decision is undemocratic as those elected are now being left powerless.

However, Kumbwa said he is not surprised Ithete was let go of, adding that he failed in his portfolios due to questions he could not respond to, including the Namibia Desert Diamonds diamond robbery.

Landless People’s Movement spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa says it is a concerning move and feels like a haphazard change with no clear indication as to why, but with dangerous-sounding consequences.

“Green hydrogen was under the Office of the President, and it was shrouded by mystery, uncertainty and lacked oversight. We have a dangerous situation when the activities of such an important ministry now follow the same route,” he says.

Meanwhile, National Democratic Party’s Martin Lukato has raised concerns over questions he posed to Ithete for which he was supposed to provide answers this week.

“With this news I am worried. The answers to my questions will now be delayed and if the mine sector is outside parliament, who do we hold accountable? Because these ministerial portfolios ought to be present in parliament at all times,” he says.

National Unity Democratic Organisation parliamentarian Vetaruhe Kandorozu says he feels sorry for the dismissal and it is unfortunate.

“We are still waiting to hear the reason for his dismissal. However, Ithete has been very arrogant towards the opposition’s party members when we post urgent oral-questions.

“He goes ‘I don’t know’, undermining the decorum of the House and the constitutional rights that give members of legislature the right to ask questions to execute and for the executive to respond,” Kandorozu says.

He says if the dismissal is about the Khorixas utterances, one can say it was an irresponsible statement from a seasoned politician who grew up in youth politics.

Kandorozu says it is irresponsible for a minister to tell citizens they will only work with people from their own party when they have national resources to distribute to all.

He adds that Ithete needs to retract and apologize to Khorixas’ people and the Namibians.

“We as politicians must learn to choose our words wisely and not get carried away by the cheerfulness of the crowd. We have lots of programmes and projects to share with the public during the campaign and that’s what we need to concentrate on,” he says.

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