Phosphate a no go, says Angula

FORMER prime minister Nahas Angula says the proposed seafloor mining for fertiliser exports should not be entertained as it could haunt future generations.

Angula made these comments to on Wednesday, while former home affairs minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana said she fears for the unknown, and would prefer to “let sleeping dogs lie”.

The comments by the two former ministers come a week after environment minister Pohamba Shifeta accused the proponents of phosphate mining of blackmailing him into approving a mining business that has been branded as toxic by environmental activists.

The two politicians are some of the few high-ranking officials who are publicly condemning a potentially deadly mining initiative that is seemingly being pushed by president Hage Geingob.

approached Angula, since he was one of the crafters of Namibia’s Constitution. Namibia was the first African country to incorporate the protection of the environment in its national constitution.

The former premier said there was a specific reason why a clause was inserted in the Constitution to protect the environment.

“I’m not sure whether we need to go as far as mining the seabed. For me, phosphate is a no-go area. We should not even entertain it”, Angula said, adding that the impact of such activities could be felt by the next generation.

“We should leave it [the sea]. We are already digging the land and leaving holes open”.

Phosphate mining supporters have over the years claimed that phosphate mining will create jobs, but to Angula, this is a “myopic view”.

“There are many ways we can revive the economy without putting the sea in danger,” he stressed.

Iivula-Ithana, who was a Cabinet minister until February last year, said it’s risky.

“Being a lay person, I am so frightened, and hope we are patient enough to wait for the scientific examinations and research outcomes before we disturb that seabed,” she stated.

“So far, I am living under fear of the unknown, and I hope we “let sleeping dogs lie,” she added.

Iivula-Ithana said she is looking forward to follow the court case where a fishing federation went to court to block phosphate mining.

“Incidentally, I read an article by someone analysing the composition of the sludge underneath the ocean, and what is likely to happen should the equilibrium underneath there be disturbed,” she said.

Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta told last week that marine phosphate mining proponents tried to pressure and blackmail him into approving the controversial seabed mining which is considered to be damaging by environmental activists.

The proponents are Namibia Marine Phosphate, which is owned by Omani billionaire Mohammed Al Barwani, and his partner Knowledge Katti.

Shifeta said Katti and his crew wrote to Geingob in an attempt to apply pressure.

“They wrote to me, asking about the status of the project, and I told them that this matter is sub judice. Next thing I hear is that they wrote to the president, asking for help. It seems they were not happy with my answer. I gave the president the same answer I gave Namibia Marine Phosphate, and he understood,” Shifeta added.

He said: “My hands are tied until the court pronounces itself. My actions in this matter are dictated by the law; investors must just be patient until the law runs its course”.

Katti leaked the questions sent to him by last week on the allegations that he blackmailed the minister.

He also leaked his lawyers’ letter sent to this newspaper denying the allegations.

“Any allegations of either or both of our clients having blackmailed the honourable minister of environment, or having attempted to do so, are entirely devoid of any substance, and defamatory of our clients,” his lawyer Charles Visser from ENSafrica said.

According to him, the phosphate matter is currently in court.

“Our clients consequently refrain from expressing any further comment thereon at this stage,” Visser added.

In fact, Katti – the Namibian partner of the Omani billionaire– paid N$200 000 towards Geingob’s medical bills and air fares previously.

The Omani business people have since Geingob’s ascendancy to the Presidency received special treatment, such as red carpet treatment when Geingob was inaugurated as president in 2015.

– shinovene@