Mukwiilongo: Keep oil under president, ministers are corrupt

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) president Epafras Mukwiilongo has thrown his weight behind the proposal to place the upstream oil mandate under the Office of the President, saying Namibian ministers have proven to be easily corruptible and thus can’t be trusted with oil.

As an example, he cited former ministers who are currently in jail on corruption charges and the fact that President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s first-ever oil minister – Natangue Ithete – was removed within months of his appointment amid allegations related to the alleged irregular renewal of an oil block licence.

Mukwiilongo said Nandi-Ndaitwah’s unblemished record, never having been implicated in corruption allegations during her long government career, gives her the benefit of the doubt as an incorruptible leader.

“Ministers have proven time and again that they are susceptible to corruption. They are easy to manipulate," he said.

"We have some of them in jail for that. Also, we have people arrested in the ‘oilrot’ [Namcor-Enercon] saga, and there could be more arrests regarding medical supply corruption in the ministry of health. Where were ministers when all this was happening?” he said.

Trust the president

Mukwiilongo added that, globally, politically stable oil-producing countries keep their oil under the direct control of their heads of state, though he did not name any specific examples.

Mukwiilongo warned that there are already political moves to control the national asset.

“Currently there are camps, even in Swapo itself, trying to control the oil," he claimed.

"Why don’t they trust the president, whose record on corruption is clean, to have direct control of the oil?

"I’m a leader of an opposition party, but sometimes we must put politics aside and tell the truth – the oil must be under the president for now,” the former lawmaker said.

Family ties rebuffed

Nandi-Ndaitwah recently had to rebuff unproven accusations that she was motivated to bring oil under her direct control to benefit her children, who are active in business.

She said that while her children have the same right to participate in business as all other citizens, they do not operate in the oil sector.

Mukwiilongo dismissed the accusations against the president and said: “Her children were already in business before she became president, so must they give up their businesses now?”

The proposed Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Amendment Bill, 2025, seeks to centralise strategic oversight of upstream oil and gas under the Office of the President. The proposed law will formally establish an Upstream Petroleum Unit (UPU) with executive authority over licensing and regulation and restructure reporting lines away from the ministry’s traditional administrative framework.

Opposition leaders have questioned the motive and legality of this move.

Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Dr Panduleni Itula has argued that the changes would shift operational power to presidential appointees, limiting parliament from exercising oversight directly through the responsible minister.

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani recently remarked that as head of state, Nandi-Ndaitwah already has executive powers over oil, even if the mandate remains with the ministry.