The National Assembly has approved the petroleum (exploration and production) amendment bill.
The bill passed yesterday with 50 votes after Swapo and the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters voted in favour of it. All other opposition parties walked out in protest.
This means the bill will now go for a third reading at the committee stage where members of parliament (MPs) will discuss the clause they do not agree with, needing amending.
Only then will the bill be passed in the National Assembly and to the president to sign it and to be enacted into law.
This means the bill will proceed to the committee stage, where MPs will scrutinise its individual clauses, debate proposed amendments, and raise concerns over provisions they disagree with.
At this stage, MPs may propose changes to specific clauses before the bill proceeds further.
Once the committee stage is completed, the bill returns to the National Assembly for the third reading, where MPs consider the final version of the bill and vote on whether to pass it.
If approved, the bill is transmitted for presidential assent, meaning it is submitted to the president for her signature.
Once assented to and promulgated in accordance with the applicable legal requirements, it becomes law
The passing of the law will move power over petroleum exploration from the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy to the Office of the President, a move that has been heavily criticised by opposition parliamentarians and civil society.
Decisions that have historically sat with the minister and the petroleum commissioner will now be made by the Upstream Petroleum Unit (UPU) – led by Kornelia Shilunga and Carlo Mcleod – and under the direct control of the president.
In March, Independent Patriots for Change parliamentarian Michael Mulunga said the bill would make president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah the sole operator of the oil and gas industry.
“We are trading a system of safe, shared oversight for a system of absolute executive control – where the only thing protecting our billions is the hope that the person at that desk never makes a mistake. Is this a necessary modernisation to get the oil flowing fast, or a blueprint for elite capture?” Mulunga said.
The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) wrote in May that there is no need to rush the legal entrenchment of the UPU model.
“[Passing the bill] means decisions about a sector with enormous revenue, as well as environmental and intergenerational consequences, would be drawn closer to the highest political office in the country,” the LAC says.
It also echoed arguments made by Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda about parliamentary oversight.
While parliament can summon and question the energy minister, it cannot do the same with the president.
The Namibian previously reported that delays to the amendment bill have created uncertainty for international energy company TotalEnergies, which has not made a final decision on whether to invest in Namibia’s offshore oil.
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