Attempt to evict Swapo office campers fails

An Urgent application in which Swapo tried to obtain a court order for the eviction of a group of people who set up a tented camp at the party’s national headquarters in October last year has failed in the Windhoek High Court.

The party’s urgent application against the group of people living in tents at the Swapo head office in Windhoek was struck off the High Court’s roll by judge Gabriel Komboni yesterday.

Komboni struck the party’s application off the roll after finding that it did not meet the requirements to be heard as an urgent matter.

Swapo asked the court to declare the “unauthorised occupation” of its premises and a pavement area at the party’s national headquarters in Windhoek as unlawful.

The party also asked the court to issue an order for the eviction of people who have been camping at its headquarters since October last year and an order that the people should remove their camping material and vacate the party’s premises.

Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa informed the court in a sworn statement that the people who set up tents at the party’s head office insisted they would stay put until their demands have been met or questions about financial assistance alleged to have been given for the repatriation of exiled Namibians in 1989 have been answered.

According to Shaningwa, the group camping at the Swapo headquarters has been demanding clarity about what happened to funds allegedly given by the United Nations to Swapo to be distributed among Namibians who returned from exile at the end of Namibia’s national liberation struggle.

She also informed the court that a meeting between herself, the group, government representatives and representatives of the United Nations in Namibia took place on 17 January.

During that meeting, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informed the group that the UNHCR provided basic assistance to support the initial reintegration of Namibian returnees in 1989, that available donor funds were fully used and accounted for, and that no earmarked funds were retained by the UNHCR in Namibia, Shaningwa recounted in her statement.

The demonstrators’ continued presence is “a huge inconvenience and annoyance” to Swapo, its members and visitors to the party’s headquarters, Shaningwa said as well.

She informed the court that Swapo’s politburo decided on 2 February the party should obtain an eviction order against the group, after noting that the inauguration of the party’s new national headquarters is set to take place on 19 April.

In a sworn statement also filed at the court, the leader of the group, Matheus Nangolo, denied they were occupying premises belonging to Swapo.

The tents in which the group’s members are living were set up on pavements outside the Swapo headquarters, and because that area does not belong to the party it has no right of ownership, possession, occupation or use on which an eviction order could be based, Nangolo claimed.

Whereas the UNHCR successfully implemented a repatriation programme for more than 43 000 Namibian refugees in anticipation of Namibia’s independence, the UN body and Swapo have failed to implement resettlement and rehabilitation programmes for Namibian refugees, Nangolo alleged in his affidavit.

“We the former refugees are living in abject poverty despite the fact that there was money that was made available to the UNHCR by several donors for the sole purpose of resettling and rehabilitating us,” Nangolo said.

His group wants to know where the money donated for those purposes is, he also said.

Lawyer Mathias Kashindi represented Swapo in the case heard by Komboni.

Nangolo and the other respondents were represented by Joas Neemwatya.

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