Staff Reporter
PENDAPALA Nakathingo, the former National General Secretary of the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (NABTA), has won a lawsuit against the association’s former president, Vespa Muunda, and others who claimed that he was suspended for defrauding the association and misusing his position.
In August 2020, Muunda, in a letter, informed Nakathingo that he was suspended for allegedly defrauding taxi and bus operators of more than N$20,000.
In his judgment, Judge Collins Parker ordered that Muunda, Lazarus Mhata, and Elifas Kennedy Martin, who were also accused of making defamatory statements against Nakathingo, retract the defamatory statements and issue a written apology in the form of letters addressed to all those who had received the defamatory letters, on or before 28 February 2025.
Additionally, the defendants were ordered to pay N$50,000 to Nakathingo for damages.
“The defendants, on diverse occasions, made defamatory remarks against the plaintiff in the period June 2017 – February 2022. The defendants have rejected the claim. The essence of their defense in their plea is that the published statements complained of were true and made in the public interest. In the instant matter, no evidence was led to persuade the court to grant the gargantuan monetary claim of N$1.5 million. Such claims have been described as ‘excessive or exorbitant,’ having ‘no relationship to past awards in similar circumstances.’
To the other side of the suit, I say that it was too late in the day for the defendants to realize that they had no defense to the claim. They had ample time—particularly during the judicial case management of the case—to have made the concession made by their counsel at the late hour during his oral submission.
In the end, as Mr. Brand submitted, costs should follow the event. Based on these reasons, I find and hold that the plaintiff has succeeded in establishing that he was defamed by the defendants, and they have no defense,” Judge Parker said.
