Analysts warn Nandi-Ndaitwah power expansion and petroleum bill could centralise authority in Presidency

• Regional councils report to governors

• Governors report to president

• Parliament to apply for leave to president

• Placing oil and gas under the presidency

Political analysts and some members of parliament say proposed legislative changes expanding president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s authority could signal an executive overreach.

Critics have referred to the petroleum (exploration and production) amendment bill currently before parliament, a move that could erode democracy, since it seeks to transfer powers of the minister of industries, mines and energy to the president.

Nandi-Ndaitwah last year announced that the petroleum upstream unit will now fall under her office and should it be passed, she will assume total control. The bill is now being debated in the National Assembly.

While contributing to the bill in parliament, Landless People’s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi on Tuesday said the regional council amendment bill would transfer powers from regional councils to regional governors and ultimately to the president.

“This means the Presidency will be running 14 regional councils through the governors.

The Presidency has been enlarged by the creation of a vice president’s office and now the president has also become the administrative head of the National Assembly and National Council, because it is gazetted that she will now sign the speakers’ leave and the leave of the National Council chairperson,” Swartbooi said.

He said this would mean parliamentarians would now have to apply through the speaker, and ultimately the Presidency, for leave of absence.

“Where do you draw the line? Perhaps the chief justice will also have to ask for leave from the president.

That is the first context that becomes problematic,” Swartbooi argued.

He said the president now wants to bring a unit under her office, adding that, in their experience, there is no example of a unit running a sector of an economy.

He said units can run many other things but never a sector because they are run by departments.

He suggested that the president should convert the unit into a monitoring and evaluation body, with a petroleum council placed at the line ministry and partly overseen by the unit under the Presidency.

Swartbooi pointed out that the president becomes ‘functus officio’ after the first decisions are taken.

In other words, the president will not be able to review her decision and that such decisions will now be reviewed in the court of law by virtue of the construction of the oil bill.

Swartbooi said the ongoing recentralisation of powers undermines the state’s capacity to decentralise effectively, demoralising other functions, including those of elected officials.

“This undermines democracy and consistently deconstructs content culture in the manner and total consensus of society around what the Constitution is,” Swartbooi argued.

He said when the prime minister tables the report on the oil unit, he will not be able to account for questions around contractual matters because the act does not say so.

Swartbooi questioned whom parliament would address since there is no minister of presidential affairs person, as the line ministry will be responsible for downstream.

“Article 41 becomes a problem because it does not delegate who shall report to Cabinet or parliament.

Because it says every ministry shall be individually and collectively accountable to Cabinet and to parliament.

Meaning the president will have to shift as a minister and report to parliament but who then brings the report to parliament,” Swartbooi questioned.

He said one cannot lead such a sector with obscurity because it creates further suspicion, despite the good facts to address corruption scandals, and resource grabbing within the sector.

Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah says the country is seemingly witnessing the centralisation of power into one person’s hands.
He says this is a serious concern and could be a dangerous move for democracy.

Kamwanyah argues that if regional councils are required to report to governors, and governors then report directly to the president, it creates a chain of command that concentrates authority at the top.

He says this weakens the independence of regional structures and reduces local decision-making power.

“The proposed petroleum bill and the idea of parliament having to seek approval or leave from the president, it raises further concern about the balance of power.

Parliament is supposed to act independently and provide oversight, not operate under the direction of the executive,” Kamwanyah adds.

He says the developments suggest a shift toward a more powerful executive, which could undermine democratic checks and balances if not carefully managed.

Swapo member Helmut Angula disagrees with Swartbooi.

“I must qualify my disagreement. The power to the president must be time bound.

At this moment, Namibians need the supreme leader to take charge of this emerging industry which is new to our country,” he says.

Angula suggests that the power must revert to the appropriate office at a later stage.

Leader of the Body of Christ Party (BCP) Festus Thomas on Tuesday objected to the bill, citing that it is not a well-considered strategy to give the executive the oil sector without checks and balances.

Swapo central committee member Pendukeni Ivula-Ithana argues that policies being implemented by the government are of the party which aligns with the ethos of the nation. However, she declines to comment on the concerns raised by Swartbooi, saying she is not aware.

Former ambassador Pius Dunaiski says since independence under founding president Sam Nujoma, continuing through to former presidents Hifikepunye Pohamba and Hage Geingob, each presidency has displayed revisionist tendencies aimed at consolidating administrative authority within the executive.

“What may appear as incremental institutional adjustments cumulatively reshapes the governance architecture, steadily concentrating power in the Presidency,” Dunaiski says.

He adds that the proposed strengthening of regional governors is particularly troubling, as the emerging framework suggests that regional councils may effectively report to the president through them.

He says this arrangement weakens decentralisation, erodes local autonomy, and undermines the principle that governance structures closest to the people should wield meaningful authority.

Instead, it increases presidential leverage over regional decision-making, he adds.

“The pattern extends beyond administrative restructuring.

The growing executive reach into strategic economic sectors – especially petroleum governance and key ministries – suggests a systematic consolidation of control over national resources and economic levers,” Dunaiski says.

He says the recent dismissal of former deputy prime minister and minister of industries, mines and energy Natangwe Ithete appears less incidental and more symptomatic of an intensifying struggle for influence within the state apparatus.

He is of the view that these developments signal democratic backsliding, adding that Namibia risks drifting toward a de facto centralised executive state where institutional balance is weakened, decentralisation is hollowed out, and power is progressively personalised.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.