Copyright namibian
If a Lack of political support is the main reason why James Mnyupe is abandoning his green hydrogen ship, he has only himself to blame for steering it into troubled waters. Mnyupe squandered social and political capital from the onset of the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme by ignoring calls for basic transparency. Instead, he chose to rely on the power of the Presidency at the expense of nearly all other potential stakeholders. Even in selecting a preferred partner in Hyphen Energy, Mnyupe and company bypassed public procurement rules without so much as helping the public appreciate why. That was in addition to taxpayer funds being committed to fund experiments. Key beneficiaries of projects such as the Dâures Green Hydrogen project are either connected to the ruling party or friends of people in power. Mnyupe and the Presidency didn’t help their green hydrogen ambitions when he refused to meet National Assembly lawmakers to explain what the programme is about. Promises of a US$10-billion gross domestic product contribution and creating 600 000 jobs by 2040 could not have inspired belief amid a lack of transparency. It is telling that Mnyupe is jumping ship at a time when the green hydrogen bubble has deflated sharply in Europe, which was at the forefront of pushing Namibia into it. Hopefully lessons have been learnt, even if it is “how not to squander social capital and political will”.
