Renthia Kaimbi
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has called on the National Assembly to urgently consider proposed amendments to laws governing the country’s natural resources.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said legislation related to natural resources must be treated with urgency, especially proposals that seek to ensure that the country’s wealth benefits many Namibians and not only a few.
“The wealth generated in this country should benefit many of our people, not just a few,” she told parliamentarians as she officially opened the third session of the eighth Parliament yesterday.
She said Parliament must ensure that Namibia’s natural resources are used responsibly and sustainably.
She stressed that value addition should be central to the country’s economic strategy.
“Adding value to our products should be one of our core principles to stimulate and grow our economy. It should be our future strategic goal to gradually stop extracting our resources without local beneficiation.”
Nandi-Ndaitwah reminded lawmakers that last year the government invited the public to propose amendments to existing laws to better address the needs of Namibians. She said several submissions focused on securing meaningful national benefit from the country’s resources.
“It is therefore important that when those amendments are brought to Parliament, they should be considered with urgency,” she said.
She challenged members to move beyond political point-scoring and deliver results.
She said the main task of Parliament is to pass laws that help the country grow and expressed disappointment with the pace of legislative work in the previous year.
Nine key bills were tabled last year, including legislation on land, public enterprises and mental health; only two budget-related bills were passed.
“This is very disappointing because the people of Namibia deserve better services from their elected representatives,” she said, urging that the situation should not be repeated.
Her remarks drew visible reaction from opposition benches when she referred to the stalled Petroleum Act. Opposition members responded with sceptical cheers.
The proposed Petroleum Act amendments would shift significant authority over the oil and gas sector from the minister of industries, mines and energy to the Presidency. The changes would give the President powers to grant, renew or revoke oil and gas licences.
The push followed an administrative decision last year by Nandi-Ndaitwah to place the Upstream Petroleum Unit within the Presidency.
The government, through the then interim minister of industries, mines and energy Frans Kapofi, argued the move was necessary to align administration and strengthen governance of the emerging oil sector.
Opposition parties rejected that argument at the time. They said there was no urgency, noting that oil production is still about a decade away. They described the proposal as a power grab and succeeded in delaying the bill.
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Panduleni Itula echoed those concerns in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Namibia’s emerging oil and gas sector is strategic, capital-intensive, and capable of shaping the nation’s economic destiny for generations. For that reason, it must be governed by the highest ethical and constitutional standards,” Itula said.
“Of serious concern is the growing perception that control over strategic national resources, including legislative and policy direction, is being increasingly concentrated within the Presidency itself. Where laws, regulations, or executive authority are shaped or centralised in a manner that weakens ministerial responsibility or sidelines Parliament, this raises legitimate questions about the erosion of the separation of powers,” he said.
Before the President’s address, speaker of the National Assembly Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila reminded members that Parliament is a “people’s house”.
She said the Presidency, Parliament and the courts should work as partners, not rivals.
“The separation of powers was never intended to fragment authority but to optimise democracy,” Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said.
She also emphasised the need for public participation, saying participative democracy is an ongoing process that requires continuous dialogue.
