{"id":48643,"date":"2026-10-21T12:57:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=48643"},"modified":"2026-10-21T12:57:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:57:49","slug":"namibias-disputed-petroleum-bill-clears-second-reading-in-parliament","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/namibias-disputed-petroleum-bill-clears-second-reading-in-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Namibia&#8217;s disputed petroleum bill clears second reading in parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Namibia&#8217;s Petroleum Amendment Bill cleared its second reading in parliament late\u00a0<span class=\"x_spanWithBackgroundColor\">thisTuesday<\/span>, a week after opposition lawmakers walked out of \u200bthe debate over its current form.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The law has sparked fierce debate \u200camong the public, opposition parties and analysts over concerns it strips away key oversight functions and concentrates power over Namibia&#8217;s energy sector in the hands of the \u200bpresidency.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It is seen as a major test for President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, \u200bwho has championed it as a cornerstone of her regulatory \u2060reform agenda since taking office.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Presidency has dismissed concerns over the bill, \u200bwhich will establish a new regulatory authority in the office of the \u200bpresident, saying it will facilitate quicker decision-making and has the necessary checks and balances.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The bill will now be referred to parliamentary committees for a clause-by-clause review before returning to \u200bthe National Assembly for final approval.<\/div>\n<div>Namibia, a global exploration hotspot, is \u200bpushing for its first oil production around 2030.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;The decision to create a mini Ministry of \u200cmines \u2060and energy in the\u00a0<span class=\"x_spanWithBackgroundColor\">presidency<\/span>\u00a0is a wrong move and undemocratic,&#8221; Immanuel Nashinge, parliamentary leader of the official opposition Independent Patriots for Change, told\u00a0<i>Reuters<\/i>\u00a0after his party helped lead last week&#8217;s walkout.<\/div>\n<div>\nLawmakers have also criticised the \u200bprocedural handling of the \u200bbill, pointing \u2060out that upstream leadership structures have been operating ahead of formal legislative backing.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36273,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,44],"class_list":["post-48643","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Namibia, a global exploration hotspot, is \u200bpushing for its first oil production around 2030.","published_date":"","news_description":"Namibia, a global exploration hotspot, is \u200bpushing for its first oil production around 2030.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48645,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48643\/revisions\/48645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}