Tweya hushed over presidency’s green hydrogen involvement

Swapo secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa on Wednesday told party parliamentarian Tjekero Tweya, who was singing like a canary on State House’s rigid firewall around the green hydrogen deal, that he has said enough about the presidency.

Tweya, who chairs the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources, said in the National Assembly that his committee – which oversees the management of natural resources - is largely in the dark about green hydrogen because the N$192 billion deal falls under State House instead of the ministry of mines and energy, over which the committee has oversight.

He delved into the green hydrogen conversation after Landless People’s Movement (LPM) deputy leader Henny Seibeb alleged that the deal was shrouded in secrecy.

Seibeb said it was disturbing that parliament is in the dark about the deal, as are communities from which the resource would be sourced by German company Hyphen Hydrogen Energy.

He mentioned issues such as bursaries awarded and agreements that had been entered into by government regarding the project, yet there is no readily available information on the project apart from media reports and grapevine news.

Tweya revealed that his committee too has found it difficult to acquire information on the project.

A former trade minister who President Hage Geingob did not reappoint to Cabinet after the 2019 elections, Tweya said the committee initially thought the project was being spearheaded by the mines ministry.

However, they later discovered that the initiative falls under the ambit of the Office of the President, and is driven by a council comprising of various stakeholders, he said.

Difficult

“It’s very difficult to talk on a topic and a matter which you do not have enough information on; otherwise you will waste time and energy to just throw punches in the darkness and it is very dangerous,” Tweya, also a former information minister, said.

“As a legislative house, we should be mindful of the fact that whatever we do must be in the parameters of the law and that law is the constitution.”

He added: “Now, this is a natural resource of the country and as a committee responsible for natural resources, last year we saw it as our prime responsibility to get more information about this much talked about matter - and the committee was guided in terms of [its] duties.

“We invited the ministry of mines and energy to Droombos just here outside Windhoek, and to our disappointment, the ministry did not shed more light on the matter. They were not in charge of the project. We were informed that it is being driven from State House.”

“There is a council with a commissioner and that structure did not fall necessarily under the ambits of the ministry over which the committee has oversight, but the fact is that [green hydrogen] is a natural resource,” he said.

‘End it there’

At this point, Shaningwa rose on a point of order and informed Tweya that he had said “too much” about the Office of the President and State House.

“I just rise to make a point of order to my very own member of the house and I am sorry to do so. You are deeply mentioning the Office of the President and State House and I am afraid that you are getting too much and I want you to end [it] there and then we consult further,” Shaningwa told Tweya.

Asked yesterday whether he felt muzzled by the secretary-general, Tweya said: “I made my point. There is nothing more, nothing less. I had to give information and I did it”.

When contacted for comment, Shaningwa fumed that she’s the secretary-general of Swapo before hanging up.

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