Namibians excluded from hydrogen summit – LPM

The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) says with tickets exceeding N$30 000, the recent Global Africa Hydrogen Summit was intentionally designed to exclude ordinary Namibians.

The three-day summit, hosted by the Namibian government in partnership with the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), dmg events and Vasco Da Gama Energy, took place in Windhoek from 3 to 5 September.

The LPM, at a press conference yesterday, said the ruling party, the government and their cronies are busy carving up the country’s future and selling it to the highest bidder.

“The summit wasn’t just a corporate event, it’s a well-calculated act of exclusion. It is designed to gatekeep and keep ordinary Namibians far away from discussions about their own natural resources. This betrayal must not be taken lightly,” LPM youth wing spokesperson William Minnie said.

Minnie said while millions of Namibians continue to live in poverty, facing the daily struggle of unemployment, hunger and housing insecurity, the government gleefully hosts a summit for foreign investors and privileged businessmen.

The LPM further accused the NIPDB and the energy ministry of parading around with promises of billion-dollar investments and economic transformation, which it says has been an “absolute failure”.

“Where are the jobs? Where are the opportunities? The truth is this, NIPDB, along with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, are nothing but front organisations for foreign interests and Swapo-linked elites who see Namibia’s resources as their personal ATM,” Minnie said.

The LPM demanded immediate transparency in the hydrogen and energy discussions.

“The people of Namibia must be included in any decision-making process that involves their natural resources and these resources must be used for the benefit of all Namibians, not just a privileged few,” Minnie said.

The summit faced further backlash from civil society for charging unaffordable attendance fees, described as a sidelining tactic.
Namibia Development Trust executive director Ronny Dempers told The Namibian civil society organisations were required to pay US$2 000 (N$35 700) each to attend the summit.

However, due to not being able to afford the fee, they were told to nominate 10 individuals who were supposed to be given free passes. However, these representatives could not attend the first session as their passes were not ready.

“We are playing the role of ensuring that whatever comes should really benefit our community, our country and the environment,” Dempers said at the time.

NIPDB spokesperson Catherine Shipushu said the organisation has been inundated with queries about the summit’s ticket prices.

However, the NIPDB can’t address the ticket prices in isolation without proper context, she added.

“Instead of responding to each query individually, we will issue a statement regarding the summit and provide the full context thereof. We cannot address the ticket prices in isolation, without proper context,” Shipushu said.