Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani calls on president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to maintain transparency in matters concerning her children’s business activities.
Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Venaani stressed that while family members of the president are entitled to engage in lawful business, concerns arise when positions of power are used to secure advantages for relatives.
“But I disagree with the notion that people that are in power are using their offices to advance their children,” Venaani said.
“The president must draw a very delicate line in terms of transparency because there are other children in this country entitled to do business.
If children of those in power are getting lucrative deals through family links or influence, then there is a fundamental problem.”
He added that those making allegations should also exercise care, and that constitutional and legal provisions allow spouses and family members of public officials to do business, but such activities must not benefit unfairly from the Office of the President.
“Why do all the children of presidents get lucrative deals in this country? We must be very careful and speak on behalf of all our children equally,” Venaani said.
His comments follow media reports that the president’s children are involved in the oil and gas industry, a sector Nandi-Ndaitwah placed under her office immediately after assuming power on 21 March last year.
CATEGORICALLY CLEAR
The president has rejected parts of a story published by The Namibian yesterday that reported about her family’s alleged involvement in the oil and gas industry – a sector she controls.
“I state categorically and without reservation that my children have no interests, direct or indirect, in the oil and gas sector,” Nandi-Ndaitwah says in a media statement released yesterday.
She adds: “For the record, like any Namibian citizen, my children have the full and equal right to participate in the country’s economy.
“They do so to contribute to national development, the well-being of our people and their own lawful livelihoods. We will not be faulted for exercising this right as long as it is done within the confines of the law.”
The president calls on The Namibian journalists to retract the statement and issue a public apology.
Alternatively, she challenges them to present credible and verifiable evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Meanwhile, former cabinet minister Helmut Angula says the Presidency now has to clarify the issue in question to the public, saying it has become a public affair.
Speaking to Desert FM yesterday, Angula said: “It is not mandatory that they should answer immediately but she has an obligation to make a public statement on the issue of that nature.”
Independent Patriots for Change leader Panduleni Itula criticises the decision to place upstream oil and gas activities under the Office of the President, arguing that it violates constitutional principles of ministerial accountability and creates a high risk of conflict of interest.
Responding to questions by The Namibian yesterday, Itula said the administration of upstream petroleum activities by the Presidency is inappropriate and inconsistent with Namibia’s Constitution.
“It is inappropriate for the head of state to administer upstream oil and gas activities, as she is not, in terms of ministerial accountability, provided for by Article 41 of the Constitution, accountable to the sovereign,” Itula said.
He explained that Namibia’s constitutional architecture places the responsibility for administering national resources squarely with ministers, who are subject to parliamentary oversight, not the Presidency.
“Implicit in the constitutional accountability framework and the assignment of powers is the administration of our resources by ministers and not by the Presidency,” he said.
According to Itula, centralising control of upstream petroleum activities under the president undermines transparency and weakens accountability mechanisms designed to protect national interests.
He warned that such an arrangement increases the risk of conflicts of interest, particularly given the potential for loyalty to family members and associates to override public accountability.
“Because of the potential for conflict of interest, loyalty towards members of our families and an implicit lack of transparency, there is even more reason why upstream petroleum activities should not be administered by the president,” Itula said.
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