The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, in its engagement with GIZ, the German Agency for International Development, has declined a virtual presentation by Green Hydrogen Commissioner James Mnyupe.
The committee had an engagement with GIZ management and consultants on the rollout of green hydrogen, and Mnyupe was to give a presentation on the program he is heading from State House.
Mnyupe is currently on a work assignment in Japan and wanted to do his presentation online, but the Committee would rather wait for him to return and do it in person.
"We are willing to wait until he is here to engage us," said committee Chairperson Tjekero Tweya, adding that "COVID has come to an end and we want to deal with Namibian issues on a very serious note, not through virtual meetings when you are supposed to be here."
Tweya said the committee derives its mandate from Article 100 of the Constitution and spelled it out to the GIZ delegation that they want straight answers to their questions about green hydrogen.
He welcomed a presentation by Stefanie Bush from the Environmental Lawyers Network.
Busch pointed out the lack of legislation specifically governing the green hydrogen industry.
The laws are scattered over various ministries, she said, particularly those regarding land regimes and water usage; therefore, there is no single ministry championing the industry.
"So the only two documents we have are the Harambee Prosperity Plan, where it was established that Namibia will consider the feasibility of this industry, and then, secondly, the Namibia Green Hydrogen Strategy that was published at the end of last year in November 2022. So for the time being, when I have a client who asks how green hydrogen is regulated, we tell them there is residual legislation where we can piece together all of the different elements of this project and that there is a way to have the entire project regulated."
The constitution, Bush continued, lays out principles of sovereign ownership of the country's resources.
"The foundational principles of Article 100 enshrine the international principle of permanent sovereignty over national resources that states have—that is, the state's inalienable right to self-determination as to what happens with its national resources."
It is the state's responsibility to deal with the national resources in a manner that will benefit the people.
Tweya also expressed his unhappiness with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which seemed not to know much about the green hydrogen industry.
He also told an official of the ministry at the consultations that the committee is not interested in policies but wants to see concrete evidence to show that it is in charge.
"Last year, we invited the Ministry of Mines and Energy, whom we believe are responsible for managing our natural resources. To our disappointment, they did not shed more light on it. There is an entity out there, the council, but we don't know to whom this council is responsible, and we don't want to jump into things. As lawmakers, we want to do things legally and orderly."