‘Runaway Cabinet’ cuts Swapo out of oil talks – Ekandjo

Swapo veteran and former Cabinet minister Jerry ‘Maudjuu’ Ekandjo has accused what he described as a “runaway Cabinet” of sidelining the ruling party in decisions concerning Namibia’s emerging oil and gas industry, insisting that Swapo’s leadership, rather than the executive, should determine the country’s petroleum strategy.Ekandjo argued that Swapo’s central committee, its highest decision-making body between congresses, has been pushed to the periphery on national matters and was barely consulted on the Petroleum Amendment Bill, which seeks to transfer key regulatory and licensing powers from the mines and energy ministry to the Office of the President.Speaking on Namibian Sun’s weekly talk show The Agenda last Sunday, he said oil can provoke conflict, noting that Western powers, including the United States, had attacked Middle Eastern countries over it and that Namibia was not exempt. “[But] we have got a runaway Cabinet… The party leadership must come together, not the government, and decide and carve the way for the second phase of the struggle so that we identify our strategic partners, with whom we want to deal with all these benefits for the benefit of Namibia, and then they chart the way instead of the Cabinet,” Ekandjo said.Ekandjo said the situation differs from the past, when many central committee and politburo members also served in Cabinet, giving the party greater influence over government decisions.“I don't think the party leadership has discussed anything more about oil and gas. It's only the Cabinet that decided. The party must direct the Cabinet. Not the Cabinet directing the party,” he said.Ekandjo warned that major powers had set their sights on Namibia’s oil and that failing to prepare could have serious consequences.“America is just eyeing this. America wants to come in,” he said.“The party must come together and bring the idea to the central committee, which must sit and say, ‘We have got oil and gas; what is the way forward? Who are our strategic partners? With whom do we want to make sure who must come and invest?’”He said, instead, “it's only the Cabinet meeting on their own”. Strong tiesSwapo deputy secretary general and parliamentarian Uahekua Herunga rejected Ekandjo’s claims, insisting that the party leadership and its lawmakers had been regularly briefed on the Petroleum Amendment Bill.Ekandjo’s criticism comes amid claims of tensions between Nandi-Ndaitwah and Shaningwa over the latter’s alleged exclusion from key decisions and appointments, allegations Herunga dismissed.He described the relationship between President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and party secretary general Sophia Shaningwa as exceptionally strong.“In all the years that I have been in politics, I have not seen a better relationship between the Swapo president and SG compared to the one between President Nandi-Ndaitwah and comrade Shaningwa,” Herunga said.“Once a week, the Swapo president [Nandi-Ndaitwah] spends a whole day at the party headquarters to deal with party matters. A full day. But of course, if there are urgent state matters, she would still attend to them, but that day is dedicated to Swapo matters,” he added.Sufficiently briefedHerunga said Swapo lawmakers had attended several briefings on the Petroleum Amendment Bill and provided input collectively rather than as individuals.“The Swapo secretary general is a full-time member of the Cabinet. And I can challenge you now; there is no single Swapo MP who can claim they have not been briefed on the Petroleum Bill,” he said.“When we gave our input, it was not as individuals but as a collective representative of Swapo,” he added.Herunga suggested that Ekandjo’s concerns might stem from his absence from some party briefings, noting that the former minister was neither a politburo member nor a parliamentarian.“My senior [Ekandjo], whom I respect… is not in the politburo and not a member of parliament and misses party briefings here and there,” Herunga said.“But this does not mean if he misses these briefings, those who are supposed to take initiative in the parliament are not briefed. No single member of parliament, especially from the ruling party, will say, ‘We were not sufficiently briefed.’”

‘Runaway Cabinet’ cuts Swapo out of oil talks – Ekandjo

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-16

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‘Runaway Cabinet’ cuts Swapo out of oil talks – Ekandjo

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-16

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