Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa says the ruling party has no time to be dragged into what she termed “political confusions” by unionist Reinhold Shipwikineni.
Shaningwa’s comments come amid an ongoing legal battle in which Shipwikineni and four others are suing Swapo for allegedly failing to hold an extraordinary congress within 90 days of the death of former president Hage Geingob.
The case has been marked by disputes, including the recent withdrawal of lawyer Richard Metcalfe, who publicly denounced Shipwikineni.
Reacting to Metcalfe withdrawing his legal services to Shipwikineni, Shaningwa yesterday said the party has other serious matters to attend to.
“Swapo can’t afford to be pulled into the Shipwikineni political confusions. Swapo doesn’t have time to waste, there are too many important things to consider instead,” she said.
The dispute between Metcalfe and Shipwikineni escalated after Metcalfe withdrew from representing Shipwikineni and four other applicants in their legal battle against Swapo.
In a court affidavit on Tuesday, Shipwikineni alleged that Metcalfe withdrew from his case against Swapo last year due to threats from deputy chief justice Petrus Damaseb.
However, Metcalfe yesterday hit back at Shipwikineni, dismissing his claims as outright lies and accusing him of deception and self-interest.
“Pursuant to the so-called status report issued by Reinhold Shipwikineni, I wish to make it categorically clear that the last time that I engaged directly with the honourable deputy chief justice was in 2010. It is precisely because of the irretrievable breakdown in the legal practitioner/client relationship that I am absolutely unable to continue to represent Mr Shipwikineni.”
He said Shipwikineni misrepresents himself as an attorney and refuses to accept cogent legal advice.
Responding to Metcalfe’s statement, Shipwikineni suggested that time would reveal the truth.
“I don’t have enough time to make a lot of comments about the unacceptable words toward me,” Shipwikineni said.
The applicants alongside Shipwikineni are Petrus Ndeshipanda Shituula, Joshua Vaino Martins, Erich Chrismann Shivute and Aina Kalimba Angula, who argue that president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was irregularly nominated as the party’s presidential candidate in the November elections.
When he was still representing Shipwikineni in October last year, Metcalfe defended his case, and accused “opportunistic elements” within Swapo of hijacking the party to protect their involvement in the Fishrot scandal.
He said these individuals, who he described as “self-serving opportunists”, were trying to position themselves as the legal authorities on Swapo issues, while undermining the party’s constitution for their personal gain.
At the time, Metcalfe said the legal challenge would continue even as Swapo gave its full backing to Nandi-Ndaitwah as the party’s presidential candidate.
“This is not a personal attack on a wonderful woman, but an admonition to those who refuse to obey legal documents. Nobody is above the law or the Swapo constitution. Swapo members must obey the law and obey the Swapo party constitution,” Metcalfe said at the time.
Swapo, in its court papers, defended postponing its elective congress until 2025, arguing that holding the congress last year could have caused internal divisions ahead of the elections held in November.
Shipwikineni, who endorsed Independent Patriots for Change presidential candidate Panduleni Itula shortly before elections, remains defiant in his accusations against Swapo.
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