Fishrot Lessons for Oil and Gas

The president might be correct in moving the management of oil and gas under her office because the history of the industry in Africa shows “it needs close monitoring”.

Yet president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s move this week – dispatching acting industries, mines and energy minister Frans Kapofi to parliament to rush through changes to Namibia’s petroleum law of 1991 – may contain pitfalls that could compromise the good governance the head of state wants.

Kapofi urged lawmakers to fast-track the transfer of powers over “all upstream petroleum operations in Namibia” from the minister of industries, mines and energy to the president.

It is difficult to oppose the minister’s argument that bringing regulatory oversight under one institution is important for efficiency.

To appease the parliament, Kapofi said the proposed law contained measures to improve transparency, accountability and reinforce ethical behaviour.

Income from oil, such as “remissions, deferrals, or refunds of petroleum royalties [will] be reported annually to the National Assembly by 30 June . .. ”

Conflict of interest provisions will be expanded to cover all staff members. Senior staff members of the regulatory institution will be “required to disclose their assets and interests to the president …”

That is not good enough, Madam President.

By taking this far-reaching measure of personal oversight for petroleum, Nandi-Ndaitwah is missing basic tenets of leadership, management and good governance: the delegation of authority and strengthening institutions to work through predictable and effective processes.

It does not matter how close oil industry appointees are to the president. If they are susceptible to self-enrichment, they will be easily corrupted. The only question is how sophisticated they are in covering their tracks.

Add principles of good governance – transparency, accountability, rule of law and equity – to the list.

The president knows only too well that the disclosure of assets and conflict of interest to the president (even to the parliament) has not discouraged the corrupt use of public positions for self-enrichment and unethical behaviour.

Nandi-Ndaitwah has been part of Swapo-led governments since 1990, operating under the strongman of Namibian politics, Sam Nujoma.

Corruption and the self-enrichment of politicians and their cronies have thrived since Nujoma’s days and remain evident.

Rushing changes to the petroleum law without drawing key lessons from the Fishrot corruption scandal is a disservice to Namibia’s majority poor who have seen their public resources stolen by a few.

The president will be well advised to dust off the research done by her predecessor’s panel, especially on the use of public resources such as land, fisheries and mining.

Above all, no leader can succeed with good governance in the absence of transparency to citizens.

Nandi-Ndaitwah should focus on implementing transparency measures like access to information mechanisms, the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative or its Namibian equivalent, whistleblower protection, in addition to strengthening checks and balances like the parliament, the courts, the auditor general and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Paying lip service to good governance has lost Swapo votes, and public resources have been privatised by a few while poverty and crime continue to skyrocket.

It’s up to the president to genuinely embrace key principles if she wants to succeed and avoid the traps other leaders have fallen into, like Equatorial Guinea’s Teodore Mbasongo (and his clan), with whom she was photographed in oil-corrupt Angola.

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