Swapo wins legal battle in struggle for Ongwediva

SWAPO has won the right to impose unelected people as councillors on residents at Ongwediva town in the North.

The ruling party’s victory was announced in the High Court yesterday, where Acting Judge Kato van Niekerk dismissed an application to block the new council from being sworn in. This followed Swapo’s decision to restore previous councillors whom the party’s voters rejected in nominations before the May 14 local authorities elections.Soon after the ruling some Ongwediva residents questioned the point of going to the polls for specific candidates if political party leadership could still impose their preferred candidates.The High Court application was bought by Angelina Amushigamo, Samuel Nanguti, Nangolo Auala and Johnny Kanandjembo, all Swapo candidates who were told they would not become councillors after they had been unanimously elected as new councillors for Ongwediva.Van Niekerk yesterday cancelled an interim order issued before dawn on May 26 to block unelected people from being sworn in as councillors.She ordered that the four applicants pay the costs.The interim interdict was extended last week while Van Niekerk was studying the the arguments of lawyers for the applicants as well as for Swapo and the previous councillors who are now likely to be sworn in as the policy-makers for Ongwediva.She did not give reasons for the ruling, but promised to do so by next week Monday.Amushigamo, Kanandjembo, Nangolo and Nanguti approached the court urgently two weeks ago after they had been told that the Swapo Politburo has decided they will no longer be taken as councillors.No reasons were given, they argued.Gerson Hinda, the lawyer for Swapo, argued that two clauses in the Local Authorities Act stated that councillors take up office from the time they are voted in to the next election, and that an organisation can replace its members on the council whenever it wishes.Dave Smuts, representing the four, had argued that Swapo was wrong to dismiss people who had not been sworn into office and that the town clerk, as required by law, had not informed them that they will no longer be part of the council.”I expected it [the ruling] on the mere reading of the law” that the court will dismiss the application, especially because the case was not brought to challenge the constitutionality of the law, said Hinda.Hosea Angula of the law firm Lorentz and Bone said he could not comment on behalf of the applicants because reasons had not been given.Ongwediva residents Lazarus Namwandi and Simon Nande said they were disappointed with the outcome.Namwandi said voters will find it difficult to work well with people whom Swapo was imposing onto the voters.They are former Mayor Erastus Uutoni, his deputy Patricia Kashuupulwa, Angelina Angula and Isak Ndokosho.They had all been rejected at nominations before the local authorities elections.Only one member of the previous council was returned to the town’s policy-making body at the Swapo nominations.The nominations were cancelled after some outgoing councillors complained of irregularities.Swapo then dispatched Foreign Affairs Minister Marco Hausiku and the Deputy Minister for Health Richard Kamwi to oversee the voting, which they declared as properly done.More of the previous councillors fell out.Nande said they have been left “helpless” by their party bosses’ decision to give them rejected councillors.Swapo reportedly told the Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing that it had replaced the newly elected councillors for “continuity” as the Ministry recently picked Ongwediva as the best-run town in the country.This followed Swapo’s decision to restore previous councillors whom the party’s voters rejected in nominations before the May 14 local authorities elections.Soon after the ruling some Ongwediva residents questioned the point of going to the polls for specific candidates if political party leadership could still impose their preferred candidates.The High Court application was bought by Angelina Amushigamo, Samuel Nanguti, Nangolo Auala and Johnny Kanandjembo, all Swapo candidates who were told they would not become councillors after they had been unanimously elected as new councillors for Ongwediva.Van Niekerk yesterday cancelled an interim order issued before dawn on May 26 to block unelected people from being sworn in as councillors.She ordered that the four applicants pay the costs.The interim interdict was extended last week while Van Niekerk was studying the the arguments of lawyers for the applicants as well as for Swapo and the previous councillors who are now likely to be sworn in as the policy-makers for Ongwediva.She did not give reasons for the ruling, but promised to do so by next week Monday.Amushigamo, Kanandjembo, Nangolo and Nanguti approached the court urgently two weeks ago after they had been told that the Swapo Politburo has decided they will no longer be taken as councillors.No reasons were given, they argued.Gerson Hinda, the lawyer for Swapo, argued that two clauses in the Local Authorities Act stated that councillors take up office from the time they are voted in to the next election, and that an organisation can replace its members on the council whenever it wishes.Dave Smuts, representing the four, had argued that Swapo was wrong to dismiss people who had not been sworn into office and that the town clerk, as required by law, had not informed them that they will no longer be part of the council.”I expected it [the ruling] on the mere reading of the law” that the court will dismiss the application, especially because the case was not brought to challenge the constitutionality of the law, said Hinda.Hosea Angula of the law firm Lorentz and Bone said he could not comment on behalf of the applicants because reasons had not been given.Ongwediva residents Lazarus Namwandi and Simon Nande said they were disappointed with the outcome.Namwandi said voters will find it difficult to work well with people whom Swapo was imposing onto the voters.They are former Mayor Erastus Uutoni, his deputy Patricia Kashuupulwa, Angelina Angula and Isak Ndokosho.They had all been rejected at nominations before the local authorities elections.Only one member of the previous council was returned to the town’s policy-making body at the Swapo nominations.The nominations were cancelled after some outgoing councillors complained of irregularities.Swapo then dispatched Foreign Affairs Minister Marco Hausiku and the Deputy Minister for Health Richard Kamwi to oversee the voting, which they declared as properly done.More of the previous councillors fell out.Nande said they have been left “helpless” by their party bosses’ decision to give them rejected councillors.Swapo reportedly told the Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing that it had replaced the newly elected councillors for “continuity” as the Ministry recently picked Ongwediva as the best-run town in the country.