Swapo councillors take //Kharas council to court over reinstatement

Swapo regional councillors in the //Kharas region on Wednesday filed an urgent application in the High Court to enforce a Supreme Court ruling that confirmed an order for the reinstatement of three councillors after their dismissal in January 2024.

The application seeks compliance with a court order issued on 9 February 2024 to reinstate the three Swapo councillors with their salaries, following a settlement agreement between the Swapo councillors and the //Kharas Regional Council.

The //Kharas Regional Council is led by the Landless Peoples’ Movement (LPM).

The applicants, Oranjemund constituency councillor Lazarus Nangolo, !Nami≠Nûs constituency councillor Suzan Ndjaleka and Karasburg West constituency councillor Taimi Amakali, along with Swapo, argue that the council has failed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling that ordered their reinstatement and payment.

“The continued refusal by the //Kharas Regional Council to implement the order of the Supreme Court is not only unlawful but constitutes contempt of court,” a notice says.

Swapo coordinator for the //Kharas region Matthew Mumbala says what the LPM-led regional council is doing is unfair to the elected councillors and the community.

He says since the start of the LPM governance in the region, there has been no socio-economic development, only infighting and spending time in the High Court.

“People spend more time and money at the courts than doing work to bring development. Councillors are being suspended. People are in the High Court, and then they cannot hold ordinary council meetings and are blaming each other for stagnation.

It was not like that when Swapo was in the majority. We held meetings, implemented projects, and improved peoples’ living conditions,” says Mumbala.

Regional councils are tasked to initiate and formulate planning and development policies, closely monitor the implementation of the policies,

initiate joint business ventures and have supervisory powers regarding the planning and execution of all development programmes and projects.
“The Hardap and //Kharas regions are now deteriorating because there is nothing, nothing at all.

It’s just corruption. People are doing things for their own benefit. They are not following the national laws or anything.

How can you fail to implement a court order since February 2024? They are simply doing whatever they want,” Mumbala says.

This follows the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss an application by the LPM and the //Kharas Regional Council for leave to appeal against the High Court’s decison. The Supreme Court delivered its judgement on 20 December last year.

The ruling had reversed the termination of service for three members of the //Kharas Regional Council.

//Kharas Regional Council chairperson Joseph Isaacks says the councillors committed offences that include absconding from council meetings without valid reasons, as per the Regional Councils Act.

“These councillors deliberately with malicious intent of trying to sabotage the council refuse to fill vacant positions in the management committee with the intention of causing the council to fail and they are unable to justify their absence from the management committee,” says Isaacks.

The three councillors were relieved of their duties without remuneration for allegedly not attending council meetings and refusing to accept council management committee positions.

They sought legal recourse at the High Court for reinstatement in February last year. But before the High Court application was heard, a settlement agreement was reached between the parties.

The //Kharas Regional Council, however, suspended the three councillors’ remuneration in July 2024.
The councillors, in response, then brought a further application in August, with the court ruling in their favour, ordering their reinstatement.

The court also ordered that the //Kharas Regional Council chairperson and the regional council pay the legal costs of the councillors and Swapo.