Eba Kandovazu
HIGH Court Judge Hannelie Prinsloo found that the decision to reappoint Abraham Kanime as City Police Chief did not come as a surprise to Windhoek Councillor Ignatius Semba of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) who approached the High Court on an urgent basis to stop the appointment.
Kanime tendered his resignation for next months, however, his new contract is set to run for the next three years.
According to Judge Prinsloo, there can be no doubt that Kanime’s appointment did not come as a surprise to Semba because he was part of a meeting held in 27 February, where the decision to reappoint Kanime was made.
At the time Semba reportedly objected to the decision and thereafter left the meeting.
By 19 March, Semba had already made his intentions to legally oppose the appointment but he delayed it further by a month, Judge Prinsloo found.
“I fail to understand why an applicant had to wait to receive the minutes of the meeting in order to seek legal advice. The delay in approaching this court is not satisfactorily explained by the applicant,” Judge Prinsloo ruled, before concluding that Semba does not have a strong challenge against the authority of the Chairperson of the Municipal council.
“We submit that the applicant was culpably remiss in not bringing this application timeously and that this Honourable Court should not come to his aid. Where the applicant delayed unreasonably to institute the proceedings, that is, where urgency is self-created, the court will not come to their aid, “Advocate Gerson Narib, representing the respondents argued.
Semba’s argument was that the decision to reappoint Kanime is against the Windhoek Municipal Police Service Regulations and as such, unlawful.
The applicant has since been ordered to pay the legal costs of the respondents.
