Businessman Mathews Hamutenya says he has no political connection to State House and has nothing to do with the recent government decision to award international oil trader Vitol the sole right to supply fuel to Namibia.
Hamutenya, whose son Miguel (34) bought 52 service stations this year, has been singled out by the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) as part of a “conglomerate at the centre of Namibia’s petroleum oil takeover”.
Hamutenya’s name cropped up again over the weekend on social media after minister of industries, mines and energy Modestus Amutse appointed Vitol as Namibia’s sole fuel supplier for the next three months.
This deal is seen as a boost for Hamutenya, who is a partner of Vitol in a storage facility.
Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Hamutenya denied connections to Vitol Bahrain, which he said is the company that struck the deal with the Namibian government.
“I’m not a partner of the company that imports here. I have no involvement with the company appointed, and I’m not a shareholder,” he said.
Hamutenya has a joint venture with Vivo Energy, of which the parent company is Vitol (SA).
When asked about his proximity to Vitol and potential influence in the awarding of the hand-picked transaction announced by Amutse, Hamutenya said his business is explicitly with Vitol (SA) Ltd Pty, not Vitol Bahrain, which has been awarded the tender.
However, the letter to fuel wholesalers from the energy ministry clearly states they must communicate their fuel requirements to Vitol (SA), Validus’ partner company.
The Namibian has independently verified the instructions to wholesalers.
Hamutenya also said he did not join Validus through the original tender process with the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor).
He said he joined the joint venture Validus years ago when Namcor gave the company the storage deal.
“I became a shareholder in Validus six months after they got their tender from Namcor,” he said.
Hamutenya’s main company, Millenium Investment Holdings, was thrown into the limelight earlier this year by the IPC.
The party claims it is the main link to the president’s son, Ndeli Ndaitwah, who co-founded Vaneli Foods CC in 2018.
Hamutenya’s Millennium Investment Holdings lists Ndaitwah’s fresh produce business as a subsidiary.
The president’s son has in the past admitted to the relationship with Millennium, but has rejected claims of any irregularities.
Hamutenya yesterday told The Namibian he has known the Ndaitwah family since before they moved to State House.
He said his son, Miguel, and the president’s son went to the same school.
“I’m not affiliated with them by any means, by blood or by anything else. Even before the first family, I’ve been involved in this business for seven years now. When did she come to power? Last year. Validus was formed in the time of Hage Geingob,” he said.
The government’s awarding of the contract to Vitol could affect the competitiveness of the downstream retail sector.
And Miguel could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Amutse’s decision.
Vivo Energy last week completed the sale of 52 service stations to Miguel’s Nasan Energies, making Nasan the third-largest fuel retailer in Namibia.
As a condition of approving the sale, the Namibia Competition Commission banned Nasan from buying fuel from Vitol – Vivo’s parent company – for five years.
The condition was imposed after the commission investigated links between Nasan’s majority owner, Miguel, and Vitol.
Several questions have also been raised about the non-transparent way in which the bidding process took place.
Institute for Public Policy Research research associate Frederico Links says although the minister’s actions are lawful, he did not follow the default method of public procurement in Namibia.
“According to the law, you can approach specific suppliers and ask for proposals. There is lawful justification [for such a procurement], but it’s not the default. The default is open public bidding and open international bidding,” he says.
The Namibian understands that the decision followed an email-based invitation dated 8 May from the ministry to industry players, including Vitol (represented in Namibia by subsidiary Vivo Energy), Puma Energy, TotalEnergies, and Namcor.
Industry players familiar with the matter say the procurement process struck them as unusual.
“There was no formal tender and that’s the biggest concern. The process was an informal market-sounding exercise,” a source says.
The four companies that currently import oil to Namibia were invited through the Namibia Oil Industry Association to submit bids.
The email allegedly had no clear terms and conditions, or even a clear submission deadline.
An industry insider questions why only the four oil importers that currently supply Namibia were invited to tender.
Not inviting the most competitive players to the table, such as Trafigura, Vitol’s biggest competitor internationally, is unlikely to provide Namibia with the most competitive price.
Other sources have raised concerns over whether Namcor was sidelined in the process.
Asoli Progressive Party president Josef Kauandenge says an open bid process could have brought companies with rates more favourable than Vitol.
“It was not prudent for the government to just give this contract to Vitol under a cloud of darkness,” he says.
Former Cabinet minister Calle Schlettwein says a monopoly on an important commodity like fuel is a disaster, meaning the government has no leg to stand on.
“Do we even know their performance guarantees? This is not a good deal,” he says.
Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Eneas Emvula asks why Amutse has failed to disclose cost-efficient figures that gave Vitol the competitive edge to scoop the contract.
All these cracks in the process, he says, need a public explanation backed by figures.
“If this newly found first family dynasty does not serve as a wake-up call for Namibians to demand a regime change – including those in Swapo rural strongholds captured by the soothing but destructive and skewed political philosophy of the ruling party – then I do not know what will ever shake us,” Emvula says.
Amutse says the decision to award Vitol sole rights to supply Namibia with fuel was an “emergency arrangement”.
The war in the Middle East has driven up oil prices since February, and suppliers have charged premiums on the price of fuel to cover their own costs.
The government has spent hundreds of millions through the National Energy Fund to subsidise consumers.
“Before the conflict, the National Energy Fund held a substantial surplus. That surplus is almost exhausted,” Amutse said on Friday.
Vitol will provide Namibia with fuel until September, with the ministry providing no indication of who will supply fuel after that.
“What set the offer from Vitol apart was that it met the country’s fuel requirement in full,” Amutse said.
Neither the ministry nor Vitol responded to requests for comment.
