CoD MPs must stay: Judge

THE Shixwameni faction of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) opposition party won a partial victory over Ben Ulenga in a court case on Friday.

The Judge ordered that three MPs must retain their seats in Parliament for the time being. The National Assembly will resume its sessions tomorrow.CoD leader Ben Ulenga expelled several prominent party members last month after he pulled out of a joint agreement with the faction led by Ignatius Shixwameni.The group filed an urgent High Court application on August 24, requesting the court to order Ulenga to rescind the expulsions.”Until a final order is made in this matter, the respondents [Ulenga and his group] shall take no steps to replace Nora Schimming-Chase, Reinhard (Kala) Gertze, Elma Dienda and Herbert Schultz as Members of the National Assembly and Town Councillor of Windhoek,” Judge Louis Muller ruled in the High Court.”CoD shall not prevent them from participating in the activities of these assemblies and performing their functions and duties,” Judge Muller ruled.”We are very happy with the court order of Judge Muller,” an elated Shixwameni told The Namibian on Friday afternoon, minutes after the court proceedings.”We were right to put our trust in the truth and the judiciary.Mr Ulenga should see this as a signal to get back on track.”Ulenga said his party would not appoint new MPs for the National Assembly for the time being.”The expelled CoD members will be in Parliament in their personal capacity only,” he told reporters.Shixwameni and some 150 other delegates walked out of an extraordinary CoD congress at Keetmanshoop in May this year, alleging that the party’s leadership elections were rigged, fraudulent and irregular.Ulenga publicly declared a day later that he and his newly elected team of leaders would resign should the allegations be true.Both factions agreed to let an independent audit panel investigate the Keetmanshoop elections.They also agreed to abide by the findings of the panel, chaired by Clement Daniels.In July, the panel found fraud and irregularities in the elections, declared the Keetmanshoop results “null and void” and called for a new congress to elect CoD leaders within three months.The two factions were expected to select three members each to form an interim committee to prepare for the congress.On the day the six members were to be announced and the committee formed, Ulenga, his national chairman Tsudao Gurirab and his secretary general Rosa Namises pulled out of this process.”We were legitimately elected and the interim committee, which will have non-elected people serving on it, would conduct party activities which we cannot allow to happen,” Ulenga declared.A few days later, he expelled Shixwameni, Schimming-Chase, Gertze and Dienda from CoD, as well as Schultz, a Windhoek City Councillor, Moses Katjiuongua and Pauline Dempers plus many of those who walked out at Keetmanshoop.The Shixwameni group then instructed a lawyer to file an urgent application in the High Court, asking to reinstate them as party members, keep their status as MPs and town councillor and to force the Ulenga faction to stick to the June agreement, so that a new congress could be held before the end of the year.The responding affidavit from the lawyers of the Ulenga group only reached the High Court on Friday morning, about an hour before the hearing was to start, which clearly displeased Judge Muller.”The court was bombarded with documents this morning,” Muller told the attorneys of both CoD factions.”The lawyers of the respondents asked for a postponement and it will be difficult not to grant that.”Muller then said that from a logistical point of view and the fact that the High Court had many cases on its roll, it was virtually impossible to set a date this year for hearings.”You also have to convince me of the urgency of the application,” he told Andrew Corbett, senior counsel for the Shixwameni group.Corbett asked Justice Muller to grant an interim order to protect the three MPs and City Councillor Schultz.”They were constitutionally elected,” Corbett argued.Muller then requested both parties to agree on dates for filing affidavits and for court hearings and to submit that list to the court on Friday afternoon.Corbett and Harald Geier, who appeared on behalf of Ulenga, duly produced a timetable for Judge Muller, who set January 28 2008 as the date for the first court hearing.In the meantime, the lawyers of both groups must file several affidavits over the next three months.Muller further ordered the Ulenga group to “produce and file the record of the decisions taken on August 1 2007 to expel the CoD members”.This must be done by September 21.The National Assembly will resume its sessions tomorrow.CoD leader Ben Ulenga expelled several prominent party members last month after he pulled out of a joint agreement with the faction led by Ignatius Shixwameni.The group filed an urgent High Court application on August 24, requesting the court to order Ulenga to rescind the expulsions.”Until a final order is made in this matter, the respondents [Ulenga and his group] shall take no steps to replace Nora Schimming-Chase, Reinhard (Kala) Gertze, Elma Dienda and Herbert Schultz as Members of the National Assembly and Town Councillor of Windhoek,” Judge Louis Muller ruled in the High Court.”CoD shall not prevent them from participating in the activities of these assemblies and performing their functions and duties,” Judge Muller ruled. “We are very happy with the court order of Judge Muller,” an elated Shixwameni told The Namibian on Friday afternoon, minutes after the court proceedings.”We were right to put our trust in the truth and the judiciary.Mr Ulenga should see this as a signal to get back on track.”Ulenga said his party would not appoint new MPs for the National Assembly for the time being.”The expelled CoD members will be in Parliament in their personal capacity only,” he told reporters.Shixwameni and some 150 other delegates walked out of an extraordinary CoD congress at Keetmanshoop in May this year, alleging that the party’s leadership elections were rigged, fraudulent and irregular.Ulenga publicly declared a day later that he and his newly elected team of leaders would resign should the allegations be true.Both factions agreed to let an independent audit panel investigate the Keetmanshoop elections.They also agreed to abide by the findings of the panel, chaired by Clement Daniels.In July, the panel found fraud and irregularities in the elections, declared the Keetmanshoop results “null and void” and called for a new congress to elect CoD leaders within three months.The two factions were expected to select three members each to form an interim committee to prepare for the congress.On the day the six members were to be announced and the committee formed, Ulenga, his national chairman Tsudao Gurirab and his secretary general Rosa Namises pulled out of this process.”We were legitimately elected and the interim committee, which will have non-elected people serving on it, would conduct party activities which we cannot allow to happen,” Ulenga declared.A few days later, he expelled Shixwameni, Schimming-Chase, Gertze and Dienda from CoD, as well as Schultz, a Windhoek City Councillor, Moses Katjiuongua and Pauline Dempers plus many of those who walked out at Keetmanshoop.The Shixwameni group then instructed a lawyer to file an urgent application in the High Court, asking to reinstate them as party members, keep their status as MPs and town councillor and to force the Ulenga faction to stick to the June agreement, so that a new congress could be held before the end of the year.The responding affidavit from the lawyers of the Ulenga group only reached the High Court on Friday morning, about an hour before the hearing was to start, which clearly displeased Judge Muller.”The court was bombarded with documents this morning,” Muller told the attorneys of both CoD factions.”The lawyers of the respondents asked for a postponement and it will be difficult not to grant that.”Muller then said that from a logistical point of view and the fact that the High Court had many cases on its roll, it was virtually impossible to set a date this year for hearings.”You also have to convince me of the urgency of the application,” he told Andrew Corbett, senior counsel for the Shixwameni group.Corbett asked Justice Muller to grant an interim order to protect the three MPs and City Councillor Schultz.”They were constitutionally elected,” Corbett argued.Muller then requested both parties to agree on dates for filing affidavits and for court hearings and to submit that list to the court on Friday afternoon.Corbett and Harald Geier, who appeared on behalf of Ulenga, duly produced a timetable for Judge Muller, who set January 28 2008 as the date for the first court hearing.In the meantime, the lawyers of both groups must file several affidavits over the next three months.Muller further ordered the Ulenga group to “produce and file the record of the decisions taken on August 1 2007 to expel the CoD members”.This must be done by September 21.