MPs slam upstream oil unit jobs

The appointment of a director general and deputy director for Namibia’s proposed upstream petroleum unit before the passing of the Petroleum Amendment Bill has raised fresh concerns about executive overreach and the independence of parliament.

Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) shadow finance minister Michael Mwashindange told parliament that the unit is already operational at State House, despite the legal framework meant to establish it still being debated.

“State House converted some presidential advisors to director general and deputy director for the upstream unit who are already working and travelling," he said.

"With what money and from which budget line, parliament does not know,” he added.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah appointed Kornelia Shilunga as special advisor and head of the upstream petroleum unit and Carlo Lord Muhamed McLeod as special advisor and deputy head of the upstream petroleum unit in May 2025.

The Petroleum Amendment Bill currently before parliament seeks to update Namibia’s oil and gas framework as the country moves closer to production following recent offshore discoveries.

The amendments expand the State’s role in petroleum operations, including participation in exploration and production.

It also introduces greater flexibility in determining fiscal terms such as royalties, cost recovery and profit-sharing, allowing them to be negotiated on a project-by-project basis.

The bill provides for the establishment of an upstream petroleum unit to oversee licensing, negotiations and sector governance, while increasing executive authority over key decisions in the petroleum sector.

Parliamentary role diminished

Mwashindange questioned whether the executive had already assumed the outcome of the legislative process.

“All these started way before the amendment bill was even brought to parliament. Did the president already anticipate the bill being passed by parliament? If the answer is yes, where is the independence of the legislature from the executive?” he stressed.

He further warned that the bill already expands executive discretion in key areas such as fiscal terms, cost recovery and state participation, arguing that weak safeguards could expose the country to revenue uncertainty and fiscal risk.

He said the absence of clear statutory controls over petroleum revenues, combined with increased state exposure to exploration and price risks, creates a framework in which financial liabilities could be transferred to the national balance sheet without adequate oversight.

The early operationalisation of the upstream unit, he suggested, reinforces those concerns.

At issue is not only the legality of the appointments but also funding.

Parliament has not been informed of the unit's budget allocation, raising questions about whether public funds are being deployed outside approved frameworks.

“If Namibia is to become a petroleum producer, let us enter as a disciplined one, a credible one, and a sovereign-first one,” Mwashindange said.

Excessive authority

IPC MP Michael Mulunga also warned that the structure of the upstream petroleum unit concentrates excessive authority in the Presidency, raising further concerns about how appointments are made and exercised.

He said the bill effectively centralises decision-making by “taking the power cables from the ministry, the Treasury, and the environment, and plug[ging] them all directly into a single desk in the State House."

He added that the director general would serve under the “direction and control” of the president and could be removed at will.

Mulunga argued that such an arrangement undermines the independence of technical appointments, noting that “in law, if you can be fired without cause by the person you report to, you aren’t an independent technocrat – you are a political appointee."

He also questioned how accountability would work, saying that if decisions are effectively made within the Presidency, political responsibility could still fall on ministers who lack operational authority.

Separation of powers

Another IPC MP, Vilho Ihemba, further warned that concentrating authority, including key appointments, within the Presidency creates risks that go beyond governance structure and could affect how the sector is monitored and controlled.

He cautioned that without strong institutional separation, the system becomes vulnerable to failures in oversight, including illegal syphoning of resources, under-reporting of production and broader revenue leakage.

“Oil and gas require technical expertise, commercial agility and regulatory stability, not political management,” he said.

He warned that placing operational authority and oversight within the same structure weakens independent checks and increases exposure to such risks.