ONDONGA King Immanuel Kauluma Elifas has been ordered to appear in the Oshakati High Court to give oral testimony about his alleged dismissal of six traditional leaders.
High Court judge Maphios Cheda made the ruling yesterday, and ordered the legal teams involved in a lawsuit about the dismissal of the six traditional councillors of the Ondonga Traditional Authority to set a date within 14 days on which the king would be required to testify.
Judge Cheda also instructed the councillors who have been appointed to replace the dismissed traditional leaders to pay the six dismissed councillors’ legal costs in their application to have the king summoned to court to testify about their dismissal.
King Elifas is alleged to have ordered the dismissal of seven traditional councillors in July last year. The dismissed traditional leaders are Peter Kauluma, Joseph Asino, John Walenga, Vilho Kamanya, Kashona kaMalulu, Tonata Ngulu and Fillemon Nambili.
Following their dismissal, Kauluma, Asino, Walenga, Kamanya, kaMalulu and Nambili lodged a case in the High Court in which they are asking the court to review and set aside the decision to dismiss them, and to stop the appointment of other traditional leaders in the positions from which they were removed.
The six are questioning the signature stamp used by the traditional authority in the correspondence announcing their firing, and the appointment of new traditional councillors, and are alleging that the king did not decide to dismiss them.
With the six councillors denying that the king made the decisions first to suspend and then to dismiss them, and also that the appointment of other traditional leaders in their former positions was decided by the king, their legal counsel, George Coleman, asked the judge to require the king to appear in court to testify about the decisions attributed to him.
Walenga last year also filed an urgent court application to have the king mentally evaluated to see if he was still of sound mind and fit to discharge the Ondonga kingdom’s traditional leadership responsibilities. That application was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court.
King Elifas was represented by lawyer Elias Shikongo when oral arguments in the matter were heard last week.
A leadership and succession dispute within the Ondonga kingdom has been dragging on since the dismissed councillors challenged the removal of Uukwanambwa district headman Wilbard Lidker, who was replaced by Ester Gwashamba Nepando in February last year.
– tuyeimo@namibian.com.na
