President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s two sons have rejected as “a blatant lie” allegations by Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) leader Panduleni Itula that they are involved in Namibia’s oil industry, issuing a forceful denial on Friday and accusing the opposition of politically motivated smears.
Itula earlier linked Ndeli and Nande Ndaitwah — identified by the IPC as members of the country’s first family — to the petroleum sector through their private business interests. The opposition leader said the family was positioning itself to control the oil industry, pointing to two companies associated with the brothers: Vaneli Foods, a farming concern linked in past reports to partial funding from energy businessman Mathews Hamutenya, and Tradeport Namibia, which Itula said operates in fuel distribution.
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The brothers dismissed the claims as false and dangerous. In a joint statement, Ndeli and Nande said the allegations were politically motivated and that spreading them endangered their safety and violated their rights to participate in the economy.
- Accusation: IPC leader Panduleni Itula alleged the first family is positioning itself to control the oil industry.
- Companies named: Vaneli Foods (linked to Ndeli) and Tradeport Namibia (linked to Nande).
- Funding link: Itula referenced past partial funding of Vaneli Foods by Mathews Hamutenya.
- Response: Both brothers called the allegations false, politically driven and harmful to their safety and rights.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah reiterated the family’s position, asserting that her children “have full and equal rights to participate in the country’s economy,” a comment that frames the dispute as part of broader questions about private enterprise, political scrutiny and the role of family members of public officials.
The exchange highlights growing tensions between the ruling family’s defenders and an opposition that has seized on allegations of economic entanglement to question political influence over Namibia’s resources. Itula’s accusation ties into wider public anxieties about who will benefit as Namibia develops its oil and fuel sectors, though neither the IPC nor the brothers provided documentary evidence in their public statements to substantiate their competing claims.
No independent regulatory or corporate filings citing the brothers as active participants in petroleum production or large-scale fuel distribution were presented in the statements released alongside the denials. Requests for comment from the companies named or from Mathews Hamutenya were not included in the statements made public.
As the debate continues, the dispute is likely to feature in political discourse around resource governance and transparency ahead of upcoming national conversations about oil-sector oversight.
By News-room
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
