Ritter/Namfisa case postponed again

THE High Court in Windhoek yesterday for a second time postponed a case between the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) and its former Chief Executive Officer Rainer Ritter.

‘As we arrived in court, we were told that the case would be postponed but we do not know what the new date will be,’ Ritter told The Namibian yesterday.’Our legal counsel also informed us that the lawyers of Namfisa filed their heads of arguments too late last week past the set due date. It is the second time their lawyers have done that,’ Ritter added.The former CEO, who had been suspended in March 2009, had sued Namfisa in August last year for not honouring an agreement reached after a disciplinary hearing.Ritter, who was suspended on full pay for allegedly not adhering to regulations when appointing a consultant, faced an internal disciplinary hearing, but an agreement was reached after the first day of the hearing that he would resign from Namfisa with effect from the end of November 2009. All charges against him would be dropped. It was also agreed that he would not have to report to work for the six months from May, and that the sum of N$830 268 would be paid out to him shortly afterwards. This did not happen, because Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, who was briefed about the settlement reached with Ritter, is said to have insisted that the disciplinary hearings should continue and the settlement reached with Ritter be ignored. Ritter sued Namfisa and his claim for payment remained unopposed by Namfisa’s lawyers, as they missed the deadline to file their opposing affidavits in August 2009. On August 14, the High Court ordered Namfisa to pay Ritter with 20 per cent interest dating from June 1 2009, and Namfisa must also pay Ritter’s legal costs. The lawyers of Namfisa then sent a notice of motion to the High Court, asking it to rescind its ruling. The case was set down for yesterday, but once again the Namfisa lawyers failed to file their heads of argument on time last week.’There is the possibility that at out-of-court settlement might be reached with Ritter,’ a legal source told The Namibian yesterday. Approached for comment afterwards, Ritter declined to comment. ‘I cannot comment on that matter now,’ he said.In his opposing affidavit last August, which was filed late, Namfisa Chairman Rick Kukuri denied that an agreement had been reached with Ritter in May. However, in his claim, Ritter’s lawyer stated that a settlement was reached between the Namfisa Board and Ritter around May 13 that Namfisa would ‘withdraw all charges against him on condition he resigned’.It was also agreed that Namfisa would issue a press statement and an amendment to the draft statement was then discussed to ‘expressively provide that the plaintiff (Ritter) was not required to render any services to the defendant (Namfisa) from May 13 to May 31 2009, until the six-month resignation period would kick in’.This amendment was put in writing by Namfisa, Ritter’s lawyer stated.According to Kukuri, however, ‘the parties exchanged several proposals and counter-proposals in the course of the disciplinary proceedings, but there was no binding agreement reached.’ On May 11, the Namfisa board ‘unanimously rejected’ Ritter’s settlement offer and instructed the Namfisa legal team to make a counter-offer to Ritter. ‘If the legal teams did not reach an agreement in writing by end of business on May 11 (or) alternatively by 9h00 on May 12 2009, the inquiry should proceed that day.’Kukuri added however that no written agreement was reached on May 12.’On May 12, the Namfisa Board had not consulted with the Minister (of Finance) at all on the alleged settlement agreement and the Minister had not agreed thereto either,’ Rukuri said.On the evening of May 12, the lawyer representing Namfisa phoned him, Kukuri added, and ‘advised that the applicant (Ritter) and his legal team had accepted the counter-offer that had previously been made by the respondent (Namfisa). I informed the lawyer that I need to convene a board meeting to inform the Board of that fact.’ Kukuri did not disclose what Namfisa’s counter-offer was.The next day, May 13, Kukuri arranged a meeting with Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila to discuss Ritter’s settlement offer. ‘The Minister indicated that she preferred that the disciplinary process run its course,’ Kukuri stated in his sworn affidavit. brigitte@namibian.com.na