THE organisers of the Miss Namibia beauty pageant have confirmed that no legal action will be taken against Leefa Shiikwa, who reigned as the 2005 pageant winner until less than a month ago.
Shiikwa was stripped of the crown late in April, just a month before she was to hand it over to a successor tomorrow. On April 24, the pageant organisers say they were presented with documentation from the Ministry of Home Affairs which proved that Shiikwa had been married prior to entering the contest last year.In order to be considered for participation, contestants had to declare that they were not married, had never been married before, and that they never had a marriage annulled.Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Phillip Ellis from legal practitioners Ellis and Partners, who represent the organisers of the pageant, said that as far as they were concerned, the issue was finalised.”That’s the end of the story,” he said, adding that action had been taken by stripping Shiikwa of the crown.He said in order to take legal action, one has to put in a claim for damages, and that there hasn’t been much of that.Shiikwa was required to give back the vehicle she had been loaned by Pupkewitz, Ellis said, although she would in any event have had to return the car at the end of her reign.As far as the sponsorships and donations that she had received were concerned, he said that this was left to the discretion of the sponsors, who also don’t seem to be contemplating any legal action against the dethroned Shiikwa.In an article published in the newspaper Informante this month, it was argued that Shiikwa’s marriage had in fact been a fraudulent act committed by her former boyfriend and another woman.Asked about this yesterday, Shiikwa refused to comment.Ellis said that the pageant organisers had assured themselves that the information they received was genuine, and acted on that assurance.”We would not have taken the steps we did if we had not assured ourselves that it was true.That’s all I can say.But I think it says enough,” Ellis said firmly.The next Miss Namibia will be crowned tomorrow night in Windhoek.On April 24, the pageant organisers say they were presented with documentation from the Ministry of Home Affairs which proved that Shiikwa had been married prior to entering the contest last year.In order to be considered for participation, contestants had to declare that they were not married, had never been married before, and that they never had a marriage annulled.Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Phillip Ellis from legal practitioners Ellis and Partners, who represent the organisers of the pageant, said that as far as they were concerned, the issue was finalised.”That’s the end of the story,” he said, adding that action had been taken by stripping Shiikwa of the crown.He said in order to take legal action, one has to put in a claim for damages, and that there hasn’t been much of that.Shiikwa was required to give back the vehicle she had been loaned by Pupkewitz, Ellis said, although she would in any event have had to return the car at the end of her reign.As far as the sponsorships and donations that she had received were concerned, he said that this was left to the discretion of the sponsors, who also don’t seem to be contemplating any legal action against the dethroned Shiikwa.In an article published in the newspaper Informante this month, it was argued that Shiikwa’s marriage had in fact been a fraudulent act committed by her former boyfriend and another woman.Asked about this yesterday, Shiikwa refused to comment.Ellis said that the pageant organisers had assured themselves that the information they received was genuine, and acted on that assurance.”We would not have taken the steps we did if we had not assured ourselves that it was true.That’s all I can say.But I think it says enough,” Ellis said firmly.The next Miss Namibia will be crowned tomorrow night in Windhoek.
