Agriculture minister Inge Zaamwani has appealed against the environmental commissioner’s decision to grant a clearance certificate to Knowledge Katti’s Namibian Marine Phosphate for marine phosphate mining.
This was confirmed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday.
Environment commissioner Timoteus Mufeti granted the Sandpiper marine phosphate project an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) on 5 August. On Tuesday, Zaamwani appealed against the decision.
“The appellant hereby appeals to the honourable minister of environment and tourism, Indileni Daniel, in terms of [the Environmental Management Act], against the decision by the environmental commissioner to grant and environmental clearance certificate on 5 August 2026 to [Namibian Marine Phosphate Ltd],” says the appeal notice made through the Office of the Attorney General, Festus Mbandeka.
The appeal application says Zaamwani’s appeal is “against the decision in its entirety, every condition in the ECC and the accompanying notification of decision.”
“We are aware of the appeal by the minister of agriculture, fisheries, water and land reform to the minister of environment and tourism,” environment ministry spokesperson Vilho Hangula told The Namibian yesterday.
The Sandpiper marine phosphate project is designed to mine phosphate found in the sands of the seabed in offshore Namibia.
The project will dredge the sands using a ship that can scoop up sand from the seabed.
The project is led by an Omani businessman, Mohammed Al Barwani and Namibian businessman Katti.
The approval of the ECC by Mufeti caused public uproar, with president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah reportedly opposing marine phosphate mining.
She called it “an experiment” during a meeting with senior government officials in which Mbandeka was present.
There is currently no commercial marine phosphate mining operation anywhere in the world.
Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA) chairperson Matti Amukwa says the move to appeal the ECC should ensure that all required procedures are followed.
“It’s an issue of all the processes to be followed and then we have to protect our marine ecosystem,” Amukwa told The Namibian yesterday.
He said protecting the marine ecosystem remains a key concern for the fishing industry, which has opposed marine phosphate mining over concerns about its impact on the ocean and fishing activities.
Last month the CNFA also questioned Mufeti over the decision and appointed lawyer Sisa Namandje to challenge it.
Namandje said the confederation had been seeking information from Mufeti about the project since 2022, but some of its concerns had not been addressed.
Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary Ephraim Nekongo says the youth league supports Zaamwani’s move.
Nekongo says the SPYL opposes any activity that could harm Namibia’s marine ecosystem and fishing industry.
“Our position is very clear: anything that would destabilise our fisheries ecosystem, we stand with the minister. We cannot afford to destroy our ecosystem through so-called phosphate mining. We, therefore, support the minister in her effort,” he says.
The Namibian previously reported that minister Daniel had asked the environmental commissioner to brief her before a final decision was made on phosphate mining and this was not done.
The dispute over marine phosphate mining dates back about a decade when in 2016, then environmental commissioner Teofilus Nghitila approved an ECC for the project.
Then environment minister Pohamba Shifeta defended the decision, while then fisheries minister Bernhard Esau opposed it over concerns about the fishing industry.
The fishing industry later took the government to court over a mining licence granted to Namibian Marine Phosphate.
In 2019, then president Hage Geingob pushed the Cabinet to make a decision on the project despite a government report warning about risks to Namibia’s marine environment.
Two years later, High Court judge Harald Geier ruled that Namibian Marine Phosphate had not properly applied for an ECC.
The court ruled that the company could not carry out marine phosphate mining until it obtained an ECC through the required process.
