Plan’s Kamwi lashes out at ‘malicious Boers’

A CASE in which he is accused of having illegally worked as a legal practitioner in Namibia is nothing but the product of malicious prosecution, Alex Kamwi, the spokesperson of an organisation representing former members of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia, charged after his latest appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Kamwi has been facing a charge of contravening a section of the Legal Practitioners Act of 1995 since early June 2004. He was arrested on June 7 2004 and granted bail of N$1 000 when he made a first court appearance on a charge of practising as a legal practitioner contrary to that Act, that same day.On Friday, Kamwi made his twelfth court appearance on the charge.His case has been postponed on six previous occasions for the Prosecutor-General’s decision to be made on the further course the case would take – specifically, whether he would continue to face a charge, what that charge would be and in which court he would be arraigned.On Friday, despite objections from Kamwi’s defence lawyer, Titus Ipumbu, it was postponed for a sixth time for the same purpose.Ipumbu objected to the postponement, arguing before Magistrate Helvi Shilemba that the repeated postponements for the same purpose were part of a delaying tactic being employed by the State after it had realised that it did not have a case against Kamwi.The Magistrate however granted a final postponement, to August 23, for the Prosecutor-General’s decision in the matter to be finalised.Kamwi, who is the spokesperson of an organisation of ex-Plan combatants, the National Committee on the Welfare of the ex-Freedom Fighters, and works as a private investigator, did not appear to be either impressed or humoured by this development.What is going on against me is malicious,” he charged outside court after his appearance in the dock.”It is totally malicious and against the Constitution and as a freedom fighter I say that is totally ridiculous,” he fumed.The number of times that his case has been postponed over the past three years violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial, he argued.Kamwi accused the Law Society of Namibia, which he said is being run by ‘Boers’, of having instigated the charge that he is facing.As he sees it, all of this may have its roots in the role he played in the war before Namibia’s Independence, he said.I was recognised as hitting Boers at the front.Those people at the Law Society are also Boers.Maybe some of their brothers were also killed,” he said.Then he added: “I enjoyed really killing them.”The Law Society has also been involved in litigation against Kamwi in the High Court in connection with allegations that he was doing work that is claimed to be, according to the law, the preserve of properly qualified and admitted legal practitioners.In a case in which the Law Society sued Kamwi and two of his businesses, Nation Wide Detectives & Professional Practitioners CC and Central Investigation Services CC, in the High Court, Judge Mavis Gibson gave a ruling against Kamwi on March 9 2005.In a wide-ranging order by Judge Gibson, Kamwi and his two businesses were interdicted from practising as or in any manner holding themselves out to be legal practitioners, while Kamwi was ordered not to use such a title or call himself a paralegal, professional practitioner or any other word giving the impression that he was a properly recognised legal practitioner.He was arrested on June 7 2004 and granted bail of N$1 000 when he made a first court appearance on a charge of practising as a legal practitioner contrary to that Act, that same day. On Friday, Kamwi made his twelfth court appearance on the charge.His case has been postponed on six previous occasions for the Prosecutor-General’s decision to be made on the further course the case would take – specifically, whether he would continue to face a charge, what that charge would be and in which court he would be arraigned.On Friday, despite objections from Kamwi’s defence lawyer, Titus Ipumbu, it was postponed for a sixth time for the same purpose.Ipumbu objected to the postponement, arguing before Magistrate Helvi Shilemba that the repeated postponements for the same purpose were part of a delaying tactic being employed by the State after it had realised that it did not have a case against Kamwi.The Magistrate however granted a final postponement, to August 23, for the Prosecutor-General’s decision in the matter to be finalised.Kamwi, who is the spokesperson of an organisation of ex-Plan combatants, the National Committee on the Welfare of the ex-Freedom Fighters, and works as a private investigator, did not appear to be either impressed or humoured by this development.What is going on against me is malicious,” he charged outside court after his appearance in the dock.”It is totally malicious and against the Constitution and as a freedom fighter I say that is totally ridiculous,” he fumed.The number of times that his case has been postponed over the past three years violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial, he argued.Kamwi accused the Law Society of Namibia, which he said is being run by ‘Boers’, of having instigated the charge that he is facing.As he sees it, all of this may have its roots in the role he played in the war before Namibia’s Independence, he said.I was recognised as hitting Boers at the front.Those people at the Law Society are also Boers.Maybe some of their brothers were also killed,” he said.Then he added: “I enjoyed really killing them.”The Law Society has also been involved in litigation against Kamwi in the High Court in connection with allegations that he was doing work that is claimed to be, according to the law, the preserve of properly qualified and admitted legal practitioners.In a case in which the Law Society sued Kamwi and two of his businesses, Nation Wide Detectives & Professional Practitioners CC and Central Investigation Services CC, in the High Court, Judge Mavis Gibson gave a ruling against Kamwi on March 9 2005.In a wide-ranging order by Judge Gibson, Kamwi and his two businesses were interdicted from practising as or in any manner holding themselves out to be legal practitioners, while Kamwi was ordered not to use such a title or call himself a paralegal, professional practitioner or any other word giving the impression that he was a properly recognised legal practitioner.