Beleaguered Ekandjo takes aim at judges

A HIGHLY charged and emotional Home Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo has lashed out at Namibian judges, labelling them reactionaries.

Ekandjo’s reaction came after a recent High Court judgement against him in which he was ordered to comply with a court judgement dating back to 1994. In terms of the court order, he risks being convicted of contempt of court and receiving a prison sentence if he does not obey the 10-year-old order.Ekandjo has until October 29 to comply or show proof why he should not be convicted of contempt of court.Speaking during the discussion on the Organised Crime Bill in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ekandjo said neither the Constitution nor the judges were immune to criticism.”They are not God.They can’t just say that I should be tried,” Ekandjo protested, despite being ruled out of order by Speaker Mose Tjitendero.A week and a half go, Judge Elton Hoff ruled there was no plausible explanation for Ekandjo’s failure to comply with a default judgement that the High Court had given against the Minister of Home Affairs in August 1994.In that judgement, the Minister was ordered to pay a little over N$130 000 to a Mariental resident, Johan van der Berg, for damage done to his bakkie while it was in Police custody.The vehicle was confiscated after Van der Berg used it as part payment in an alleged illegal diamond deal in which he was trapped in the early 1990s.Due to non-payment and interest charges, the amount has now increased to over N$1 million.The judgement was granted against the Minister after Van der Berg’s claim went undefended.Since then, Judge Hoff has now ruled, the Minister had done nothing to have the default judgement rescinded.Instead he had left it to hibernate.In the Judge’s view, the Minister’s conduct had been “most unreasonable”, and he had been “grossly negligent” in not taking steps to have the default judgement from 1994 rescinded.Responding to all of this while using his parliamentary immunity, Ekandjo said the judgement was negatively affecting his family.He said his children had seen reports that their personal goods might be sold to recover the money.”Now my children are asking me if it is all true.They (judges) must not provoke me.Who are they?”, he shouted despite reminders by Tjitendero that he had taken the wrong route in dealing with the issue.He said the judges were “reactionaries, including the one that sent me to jail for eight years”.Before Independence, Ekandjo spent several years in the Robben Island prison because of his political activities.In terms of the court order, he risks being convicted of contempt of court and receiving a prison sentence if he does not obey the 10-year-old order.Ekandjo has until October 29 to comply or show proof why he should not be convicted of contempt of court.Speaking during the discussion on the Organised Crime Bill in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ekandjo said neither the Constitution nor the judges were immune to criticism.”They are not God.They can’t just say that I should be tried,” Ekandjo protested, despite being ruled out of order by Speaker Mose Tjitendero.A week and a half go, Judge Elton Hoff ruled there was no plausible explanation for Ekandjo’s failure to comply with a default judgement that the High Court had given against the Minister of Home Affairs in August 1994.In that judgement, the Minister was ordered to pay a little over N$130 000 to a Mariental resident, Johan van der Berg, for damage done to his bakkie while it was in Police custody.The vehicle was confiscated after Van der Berg used it as part payment in an alleged illegal diamond deal in which he was trapped in the early 1990s.Due to non-payment and interest charges, the amount has now increased to over N$1 million.The judgement was granted against the Minister after Van der Berg’s claim went undefended.Since then, Judge Hoff has now ruled, the Minister had done nothing to have the default judgement rescinded.Instead he had left it to hibernate.In the Judge’s view, the Minister’s conduct had been “most unreasonable”, and he had been “grossly negligent” in not taking steps to have the default judgement from 1994 rescinded.Responding to all of this while using his parliamentary immunity, Ekandjo said the judgement was negatively affecting his family.He said his children had seen reports that their personal goods might be sold to recover the money.”Now my children are asking me if it is all true.They (judges) must not provoke me.Who are they?”, he shouted despite reminders by Tjitendero that he had taken the wrong route in dealing with the issue.He said the judges were “reactionaries, including the one that sent me to jail for eight years”.Before Independence, Ekandjo spent several years in the Robben Island prison because of his political activities.