Staff Reporter
AN URGENT application by Viola Geirises, Vice President of the Christian Democratic Voice (CDV) party, seeking a court order to set aside the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN)’s acceptance of a party list presented by the party’s president, has failed after being struck from the roll.
Geirises took the ECN, along with party president Gotthard Kandume and 36 other candidates nominated to the party list, to court, stating that the list presented by Kandume on 16 October 2024 should be reviewed and set aside.
Kandume’s lawyer, Kadhila Amoomo, said that the matter was struck from the roll because the applicant failed to serve court documents to the involved parties. Additionally, Amoomo said the High Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.
In her application, Geirises argued that after the High Court set aside the ECN’s decision to deregister the CDV on 10 October, the party held a Special Congress and conducted a new election for the National Executive.
“The Special Congress was called by one-third of the regions as per Article 9 of the Applicant’s constitution… However, because there was no National Executive Council (NEC) for 10 years, the NEC did not convene the Special Congress as required by Article 10… Ms. Naruses presided at the Electoral College. We would add that Mr. Kandume, the President of the Applicant, was also invited to attend the Special Congress; he, however, refused. The Special Congress then elected a National Executive Committee, and Ms. Naruses-Nases, as the election officer, presided over the election. In addition, the Special Congress resolved that Mr. Kandume, as the Party President, be recalled from the National Assembly, and further that I, as the Applicant’s Vice President-elect, will act in place of the President,” Geirises said.
