Court gives IPC chance to oppose N$3m lawsuit

The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) has been given an opportunity to oppose a lawsuit in which a Windhoek-based business is suing the party for N$3,2 million in connection with alleged unpaid debt.

In a ruling given in the Windhoek High Court yesterday, judge Boas Usiku dismissed an application by the close corporation Anga Enterprise for a summary judgement in an amount of N$3,2 million against the IPC, and stated that the IPC is permitted to oppose the legal action that Anga Enterprise is taking against it.

The close corporation applied for a summary judgement against the party based on a claim that the party does not have a defence in good faith against Anga Enterprise’s legal action and that the IPC has filed a notice of intention to defend the case with the court only to delay the legal proceedings against the party.

Anga Enterprise filed a claim against the IPC in the High Court in October last year. The close corporation is suing the party for N$3,2 million, plus interest on that amount at a rate of 2,5% per month from the end of March last year until the money that it says the party owes it has been paid in full.

In its claim, the close corporation says its sole member, Gabriela Nietche-Kandolf, and IPC national general secretary Christine Aochamus during 2020 concluded an oral agreement in terms of which Anga Enterprise would supply IPC-branded promotional items – including shirts, caps, berets and badges – to the party.

Aochamus says in an affidavit filed at the court that Anga Enterprise produced items it delivered to the party without first receiving supply orders from the IPC

She also says it was agreed that the IPC would pay the close corporation only once promotional items delivered to it had been sold by the party, and that the party knew it did not have the financial capacity to pay upfront for the items that Anga Enterprise delivered to it.

According to Aochamus, after the IPC and Anga Enterprise made an agreement for the supply of IPC-branded items, the close corporation began to produce large quantities of items and delivered it to the party without first receiving supply orders from the IPC.

Usiku said in his ruling yesterday that the IPC did not agree on the amount of N$3,2 million claimed by the close corporation, with the result that the application for a summary judgement did not meet the requirements for such a step that are set in the High Court’s rules.

Usiku also noted that a letter in which Aochamus acknowledged that the IPC owed Anga Enterprise money, and gave a commitment that it would pay an outstanding amount by the end of March 2021, was dated in December 2020 – whereas a statement of account on which the close corporation relies for its claim of N$3,2 million is dated more than a year later, at the end of March 2022.

Usiku postponed the matter to 7 June for a further case-planning hearing to take place.

Anga Enterprise is being represented by lawyer Roberto Avila of the firm Metcalfe Beukes Attorneys.
The IPC is represented by Dirk Conradie.