Hertta-Maria Amutenja and Ester Mbathera
The High Court has postponed the legal proceedings initiated by Swapo member Reinhold Shipwikineni and four other applicants against the Swapo Party and its presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to 13 November.
Judge Boas Usiku presided over this decision’s court session on 30 October 30.
The court recorded that the parties have not filed any joint case management report.
Shipwikineni’s legal practitioner, Richard Metcalfe, submitted a notice of withdrawal on the same day.
Gilroy Kasper, the party’s lawyer, was not present in court, so Sisa Namandje represented Swapo.
Shipwiikineni, along with Joshua Vaino Martins, Petrus Ndeshipanda Shituula, Erich Chrismann Shivute, and Aina Kalimba Angula, has taken legal action against Swapo and was present in court, indicating their intention to appoint alternative legal representatives.
“They ask for postponement. The applicants’ erstwhile legal representative requests that she be released from the obligation of serving the applicants with the notice of withdrawal as it is apparent from their presence in court that they have received the same. The court takes judicial notice of that fact,” read the order.
The Windhoek Observer understands that this was due to non-payment, which was eventually sorted out the same day.
Melcalfe should return to the case on Monday.
The court’s order included a postponement of the matter to allow the applicants to obtain alternative legal representation.
The court instructed the current legal representatives to transfer the bond of security from the applicants to the respondents.
Additionally, the parties shall file a joint case management report or joint status report on or before 6 November.
Shipwikineni informed Judge Usiku during the hearing that Swapo had not permitted Namandje to represent the party.
“He did appoint himself the same way he did appoint Lawyer Kasper to represent Swapo without authorisation from the Party,” said Shipwikineni.
He then demanded that Namandje recuse himself from the matter because he is a member of the party’s central committee.
Judge Usiku directed Shipwikineni to raise the issues with his lawyers.
Namandje was part of the team that decided to postpone the party’s extraordinary congress to April 2025.
Namadje said he does not have any problem recusing himself from the matter.
He also attempted to postpone the matter to January 2025, a move that was not considered due to the judge’s availability.
The case revolves around an urgent application filed by Shipwikineni and his co-applicants, challenging the Swapo party’s decision to postpone an extraordinary congress and the nomination of Nandi-Ndaitwah as the presidential candidate for the upcoming elections scheduled for 27 November.
The applicants argue that the postponement contravenes Article 15(9) of the Swapo Party Constitution.
In an earlier court session, Judge Eileen Rakow struck off the urgent application, citing a lack of returned service documents as the reason.
Shipwikineni’s legal representative emphasised that the challenge is not aimed at disputing Nandi-Ndaitwah’s candidacy but seeks to ensure adherence to the party’s constitution and Namibian law.
“No Swapo member is above the Swapo Party Constitution or the laws of Namibia,” Metcalfe said.
In an affidavit, Swapo’s secretary general, Sophia Shaningwa claimed that Shipwikineni’s application aimed to undermine Nandi-Ndaitwah’s legitimacy as a candidate, describing Shipwikineni as a destructive character spreading misinformation about party leadership.