Without a revolution to nationalise all land, mines and other strategic institutions, ownership of the country’s resources as contemplated in Article 100 of the Namibian Constitution remains a pipedream.
This position was expounded by President Hage Geingob at State House on Monday, during a courtesy visit by Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) leader, Panduleni Itula.
“As revolutionaries, maybe the best thing is to go back to the revolution of communists so that we can nationalise the resources. Then we own them constitutionally. Right now, we have a mixed economy [where the] private sector is allowed to own,” Geingob said.
Geingob added that even predominantly communist or socialist states are now adopting some capitalistic characteristics and vice versa.
The president was quick to concede that nationalising key resources so as the vest complete ownership is in the hands of the State will be met with great resistance.
Geingob was responding to Itula’s question about the ownership of the oil discovery at the Graff-1 deep-water exploration well located in the Orange Basin some 270 kilometres away from the diamond mining town of Oranjemund.
Geingob has courted controversy since his comments during an interview with Qatar-based media network, Al Jazeera, in which he said the oil does not legally belong to Namibians.
“Firstly, it’s not our oil. Money is going to go out to those who discovered it. [But] we’ve got our royalties and so on. So it will not be a big thing,” he said.
Itula, like many Namibians, is unimpressed by the statement.
“The provisions in Article 100, in its interpretation, in my view is a positive obligation [that] the utilisation of our resources that belongs and shall belong to the State, meaning the sovereigns, for the beneficiation and provision of social services, hospitals and all the infrastructure that is required,” Itula said.
Clearly at pains about the status quo, he continued: “Some of the legal frameworks around the petroleum and mining industries, we seem to have a very reasonable but weak legal framework that lacks prominence in the beneficiation and value addition in our country in order to generate the employment for our people.”
He also took around the legal provision around the hyped green hydrogen project, adding that it is not clear how it will improve Namibia’s energy security for a country that imports over 70 per cent of its electricity.
“The hydrogen project is brilliant, but the time period [to create jobs and energy] is of concern,” he lamented.
During the visit, IPC’s chief administrator, Christine !Aochamus wanted to know what Cabinet is doing to protect consumers from the rising cost of fuel and living in general, amidst the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
To this, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila indicated plans are afoot to find remedies.
So far, Cabinet committees on treasury and economic development have been tasked to jointly review the situation and generate proposals for consideration.
A report is expected by latest May 2022.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency