IPC leash fails to hold Donatus

Attorney general (AG) Festus Mbandeka has clarified that Walvis Bay Rural councillor Florian Donatus may continue his duties despite party suspension, as restraints remain an internal Independant Patriots for Change (IPC) matter.

This is contained in a letter dated 17 September to Erongo Regional Council chief regional officer Mupenzeni Ntelamo from Mbandeka.

The council requested for the AG to interpret IPC’s restraining letter concerning Donatus.

Earlier this month the party’s national general secretary, Christine !Aochamus, issued a letter notifying Donatus that he is restrained and would not partake in council activities on IPC’s behalf.

The party alleged it is due to mismanagement and maladministration during his time.

An investigation into the matter is currently being carried out by the IPC’s appointed committee as per the party constitution.

Mbandeka explained in his letter that Donatus is still entitled to execute his duties as the restraint is of IPC internal structures and has nothing to do with the council.

“It should be understood that while a councillor is nominated by the party, once elected, he or she assumes duties owed to the regional council, thereby, as a regional community as a whole.

Rule 3(1)(a) of the Code of Conduct underscores specifically this, requiring councillors to represent the constituency and region as a whole and not only the political party they represent,” said Mbandeka.

While he acknowledged that councillors answer to their parties, Mbandeka said the Regional Council Act 1992 does not empower parties to discipline or restrain councillors from performing their statutory duties.

The council is not authorised to enforce the party’s restraints, and unless council invokes section 10 to remove Donatus, he remains to serve as elected, Mbandeka said.

“Such restraints operate in the party internal sphere and do not displace or suspend the councillors statutory duties under the Regional Council Act 1992,” he said.

He cited that consequence only arises if a councillor ceases to be a member of a nominating party, in which section 10(1)(c) applies.

Meanwhile, in a letter dated 15 September Donatus through his lawyer, Kadhila Amoomo, refuted reports suggesting his imminent arrest by the police.

Amoomo described the reports as misleading and false.

“Our client strongly disputes and rejects these reports as false, misleading and damaging to his reputation, particularly given his status as a prominent political figure,“ he said.

The suggestion that details of an “imminent arrest” have reached the media, he pointed out, raises a serious concern that confidential police matters may have been improperly leaked.

Amoomo urged for an investigation into the dissemination of his client’s “imminent arrest”.

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