Edward Mumbuu

Edgar Brandt

Energy minister Tom Alweendo yesterday swiftly denied weighty corruption allegations regarding the licensing of oil and gas exploration off the Namibian coast. 

The allegations are contained in a letter authored by a certain Louis Beauvais, purported to represent TotalEnergies shareholders, and is addressed to Patrick Pouyanne, who has been chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies since 2015. 

“We need to state here that the letter does not look legitimate. TotalEnergies was unable to confirm receipt of the letter, nor are they aware of who Louis Beauvais is. However, because of the severity of the allegations, we felt compelled to respond,” read a response issued by the minister’s office yesterday afternoon.  Although dated 27 November 2023, the letter only came to the fore this week, and is being shared far and wide on social media. 

New Era has been unable to verify the authenticity of the letter, which levels assertions of deceit in what is anticipated to soon be a multi-billion-dollar oil and gas sector after significant discoveries off the southern coast. 

The allure of these billions is what two years ago surfaced as a N$50 million bribery scandal allegedly involving the renewal of an exclusive prospecting licence. At the time, former mining commissioner Erasmus Shivolo was removed from his position in a move termed an “administrative decision”. 

Now, in the Beauvais letter, he asks the TotalEnergies board to stop investing in block 2913B in the Orange Basin, offshore southern Namibia “due to corruption”. The concern emanated from a case between Red Soil Exploration and the Mines and Energy ministry, which was flagged by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Alweendo, petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino, businessman Knowledge Katti and Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila are among the names fingered by Beauvais as having played key roles in the alleged corruption scheme.

“The level of corruption within the petroleum department of the Namibian mines and energy ministry is inconceivable,” Beauvais said before going to lengths to back up his assertions.

Petroleum commissioner

At the onset, he alleges that Shino was wheelbarrowed into the position of petroleum commissioner, despite not qualifying, as part of a bigger scheme. “When the petroleum commissioner’s position became vacant, Mrs Shino was petroleum inspector, and could not qualify for the position. The position was left vacant until she was eligible for the position, or so at least they thought,” Beauvais penned.

“Eventually, when she was selected for the position, the Public Service Commission (PSC) overturned her selection, and recommended someone else. Alweendo and the Prime Minister of Namibia [Kuugongelwa-Amadhila] intervened and changed the Public Service Commission’s decision, something which the High Court recently in another matter said the prime minister cannot do,” Beauvais stated. 

In response, Alweendo’s office yesterday stood firm that Shino’s appointment was beyond reproach.  

The minister’s office explained that applicants for the advertised position
were interviewed by an independent
panel which scored Shino the highest
with 72%, and the next highest candidate scored 58%. However, the PSC declined to appoint Shino, arguing she lacked a minimum of three years of experience at the managerial level. 

“Motivated by the need to encourage the identification of key talents to improve performance, we successfully appealed against the PSC’s decision, as per the public service rules. Our appeal was based on the fact Mrs Shino did indeed serve for more than three years at managerial level. She was also ranked the highest, by a large margin, by the independent panel which conducted the interview,” Alweendo’s office stated. 

Further rebuffing the claims, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said: “The appointment of public servants is done in accordance with the provisions as outlined in the Public Service Act 13 (Act No.13 of 1995), and the appointment of the Petroleum Commissioner, Ms. Maggy Shino, was done in compliance with the above provisions.” 

To those who are aggrieved by Shino’s appointment, recourse avenues do exist, OPM spokesperson Rhingo Mutambo said. 

“Any person who is aggrieved by the appointment is advised to follow the grievance procedures as prescribed under the Public Service Act 13 of 1995, Public Service Staff Rules and the other relevant laws. The Rt. Honourable Prime Minister strongly refutes the allegations of favouritism and corruption levelled against her. She also distances herself from allegations of any personal relationship between her and Ms. Shino,” Mutambo added. He reiterated: “Any person with evidence of corrupt practices on this
matter is encouraged to submit that to the relevant authorities for appropriate action”.

Corruption

Expanding on the corruption claims, Beauvais alleged that Alweendo went against Attorney General Festus Mbandeka’s advice to award an oil block to Zambezi Exploration (Pty) Ltd, which he stated is funded by Gil Hozman.

By doing so, he continued, Alweendo extended the timelines of Zambezi’s submission of bank guarantees and changed its petroleum agreement, which enabled the company to qualify for an exploration block despite being disqualified twice for non-compliance.

“The minister receives advice from the petroleum commissioner [Shino], who has a relationship with Zambezi Exploration (Pty) Ltd… The same treatment was not afforded to other applicants. In fact, Red Soil Exploration in their affidavit to the High Court complained that the minister [Alweendo] acted unreasonably, unfairly and irrationally in declining
their application due to financial capabilities. Red Soil was noted for afforded extensions and special treatment like Zambezi,” Beauvais charged.

“The law also dictates that a public official cannot extend something that has already lapsed, as there is nothing to extend… The Anti-Corruption Act, section 38 (c), prohibits the granting of an advantage to any person, section 42 (2) prohibits the using of influence for the promotion, execution or procuring of any contract, and section 48 [provides for] the duty to report corrupt activity. Corruption need not always be payment involved to be proven,” Beauvais wrote. However, the mines ministry was adamant that Zambezi did not enjoy any favourable treatment, compared to others in similar situations. 

“Companies that have qualified to be awarded exploration licences are required to provide a suitable performance guarantee within a reasonable time before a licence is issued. Zambezi successfully applied for an exploration licence, and was requested to provide a guarantee within a period of 30 days. They then requested for an extension of time, citing reasons we considered reasonable, and their request was granted. This is a discretion to be exercised depending on the reasons advanced for the extension request,” the minister stated. 

He added that the author made a reference to how a company called Red Soil was treated in comparison to how Zambezi was treated, but Alweendo maintains that Red Soil’s application was unsuccessful.  

“It is important to note that Red Soil felt aggrieved by the ministry’s decision and challenged the decision in the High Court, and the court ruled in favour of the ministry,” the minister countered. 

The Katti factor

Beauvais, in his missive, further pointed to possible collusion between Shino and Katti, stating: “We are also sharing a voice recording attached as ‘E’, made by a middleman by the name of Knowledge Katti, bragging to an investor of running the petroleum department and controlling the petroleum commissioner [Shino]. In the recording, Mr Katti claims that he has secured a certain block and has applied for it already, and the minister and petroleum commissioner will award him the oil block.

“He [Katti] also states in the recording that he can acquire any block he wants, and that he is close to the president and the minister, and he had paid both money in the past,” Beauvais further alleged. 

All efforts by New Era to obtain comment from Katti proved futile. 

Moral fabric 

The letter added more fire about how corruption in the oil industry erodes a society’s moral fabric. “Oil curses are caused by the government’s inability to act against corrupt officials and usually
by the time any action is taken, it’s always too late. The Swapo-led government failed to follow up on a report of the Fishrot scandal in 2014, and only acted years later after being exposed. By then, millions of dollars and employment were lost, creating more poverty”.

Beauvais threatened that the plausible option for TotalEnergies was to divest in Namibia, saying, “As shareholders and board members of major corporations, it is our responsibility to refuse funding and investments into countries of corrupt governments or institutions to prevent the suffering of citizens and the enrichment of a few elite individuals”.

Clear mandate

“We would like to make it clear that it is our commitment to execute our mandate ethically, without fear or favour, and in accordance with the existing legal provisions. Corruption is abhorrent, and it is something that must be condemned by all of us. Those found engaging in it must be held accountable,” Alweendo observed yesterday.   He went on to assure the public that the ministry does not condone corruption in any form. 

“We do not look the other way where corruption is proven. We are, however, cognisant of the fact that no system is infallible. It is thus probable that there will be some in the ministry who will make themselves guilty of unethical behaviour. When that happens, it is our duty to hold them to account. Our commitment is to be responsible stewards of our natural resources, and we will make every effort to live up to that commitment,” the politician stated. 

- ebrandt@nepc.com.na

- emumbuu@ nepc.com.na