Presidency denies NNN’s role in N$612 million solar project

Patience Makwele The Namibian Presidency has rejected allegations that President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and her family were involved in a proposed N$612 million solar power project linked to the Chinese-owned Tsumeb smelter. They insist that the head of state played no role in the negotiation, financing, approval or implementation of the development. The response follows claims by Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Panduleni Itula, who last week questioned the ownership structure and governance arrangements surrounding the proposed 20-megawatt solar power plant, alleging that companies associated with the President’s sons are involved in the venture.

In a statement issued through presidential press secretary Jonas Mbambo, State House maintained that the matters raised by the opposition concern private commercial arrangements and regulatory processes rather than presidential decision-making. “The President was not involved in the negotiation, the financing, the approval or the implementation of the proposed project. Any suggestion that she was involved is simply not supported by any facts,”

Mbambo said. He added that documents publicly circulated by the opposition do not establish wrongdoing on the part of the President. “The documents that have been circulated publicly do not establish any transfer of ownership of the reference farm by the President and the First Gentleman, nor do they establish any wrongdoing on the part of the head of state,”