Swapo set to pull Etosha document from the NA

SWAPO has decided to withdraw the controversial document on the Millennium Challenge Account from Parliament.

The document was supposed to be discussed on Thursday this week but Friday’s meeting between the ruling party’s Politburo and the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) decided to withdraw the document for the time being. Sources told The Namibian that several Cabinet members have indicated that they need an in-depth briefing on the document before it is tabled again.Prime Minister Nahas Angula will have the uncomfortable task of informing the National Assembly about the Swapo Party decision.During the weekend it was not clear whether parliamentary procedures allow for something like this, since Works Minister Helmut Angula had already tabled and motivated the document.Friday’s meeting agreed that no one must talk to the media about the decision or what was discussed.However some sources said there was a feeling among some ministers that the Cabinet had been “duped” into accepting the document.”Some of us are seriously embarrassed now.It is a very good lesson for any other document presented to us in the future,” said one minister.The Namibian understands that the meeting took place in a “cordial” atmosphere.Through the Millennium Challenge Account the American government wants to inject US$305 million in donor funding into Namibia.However the Youth League is very critical of some aspects of the agreement – they claim that the Americans have attached strings to the multimillion-dollar grant.At the heart of the Etosha issue is the SPYL’s claim that the US government, through private investors from that country, intend to take over two lodges in the park as well two others in other national parks in the North.The SPYL has also demanded that Works Minister Helmut Angula (formerly the Director of the National Planning Commission), who pencilled the agreement, be dismissed because he allegedly withheld certain information from Cabinet before the document was signed.One of the documents seen by The Namibian earlier states that the Ministry of Environment will award two lodges or exclusive access concessions for Etosha National Park and an additional two lodges within other national parks in northern Namibia, with a minimum term of 10 years and allocated through competitive bidding, to private sector and conservancy joint ventures.SPYL leaders charge that that alone had cast doubt over the money given by the US government.However, both the National Planning Commission and the American Embassy denied that.They said the document was leaked to SPYL and the media before it was finalised.Sources told The Namibian that several Cabinet members have indicated that they need an in-depth briefing on the document before it is tabled again.Prime Minister Nahas Angula will have the uncomfortable task of informing the National Assembly about the Swapo Party decision.During the weekend it was not clear whether parliamentary procedures allow for something like this, since Works Minister Helmut Angula had already tabled and motivated the document.Friday’s meeting agreed that no one must talk to the media about the decision or what was discussed.However some sources said there was a feeling among some ministers that the Cabinet had been “duped” into accepting the document.”Some of us are seriously embarrassed now.It is a very good lesson for any other document presented to us in the future,” said one minister.The Namibian understands that the meeting took place in a “cordial” atmosphere.Through the Millennium Challenge Account the American government wants to inject US$305 million in donor funding into Namibia.However the Youth League is very critical of some aspects of the agreement – they claim that the Americans have attached strings to the multimillion-dollar grant.At the heart of the Etosha issue is the SPYL’s claim that the US government, through private investors from that country, intend to take over two lodges in the park as well two others in other national parks in the North.The SPYL has also demanded that Works Minister Helmut Angula (formerly the Director of the National Planning Commission), who pencilled the agreement, be dismissed because he allegedly withheld certain information from Cabinet before the document was signed.One of the documents seen by The Namibian earlier states that the Ministry of Environment will award two lodges or exclusive access concessions for Etosha National Park and an additional two lodges within other national parks in northern Namibia, with a minimum term of 10 years and allocated through competitive bidding, to private sector and conservancy joint ventures.SPYL leaders charge that that alone had cast doubt over the money given by the US government.However, both the National Planning Commission and the American Embassy denied that.They said the document was leaked to SPYL and the media before it was finalised.