By: Andrew Kathindi
Former Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) Windhoek councillor Desiree Davids has broken her silence on allegations that she used her position to fast track her application for land.
In an audio leaked to social media, which Davids confirmed to the Villager she recorded, she states that IPC leader Dr Panduleni Itula has hated her in all his engagements with her.
“The chief patriot hated me by all means in every single consultation that we had. In every single meeting, he was always angry towards me. And he would always accuse me of one or the other thing, or he would confront me with gossip of things that were said during either management committee or council meetings.”
Davids claims that the 10 charges that were laid on her were all made up by Amupanda in a three-page document given to the IPC.
Davids had been suspended by her party in June following the allegations to allow for investigations before she was recalled from the council this week.
“I never applied for land on my own accord. During our induction as councillors, it was mentioned that councillors who do not own any property in Windhoek could have the benefit of applying for land based on a condition that the land was offered to the public and that it should also have been offered to staff who do not contest when that land is offered to the public.”
Davids’ application included the mayor’s letter and was penned by the administration support staff and a template from the property department.
She says that prior to her application, Bernardus Araeb of IPC and Ivan Skrywer of the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) had also made similar applications for land that also came to the management committee and was treated the same way as hers.
According to Davids, Skrywer was called in as a witness to her disciplinary hearing and admitted to and confirmed on record that he also applied, and used the mayor’s letterhead and also didn’t write his own letter, and that it was written by the support staff.
Skrywer’s number was off when The Villager reached out to him for comment.
LPM spokesperson Eneas Emvula stated that, “She’s [Davids] not a member of LPM and whatever she implies in the audio concerning councillor Ivan Skrywer, that is something we are not aware of. We will make it known to the public once we have gathered all the facts.”
Davids further accused Itula of tribalism and said he has been in cahoots with the Windhoek Mayor. According to Davids, her relationship with the mayor soured after Amupanda presented an Affirmative Repositioning (AR) manifesto in the form of a mayoral plan to council, which she opposed.
“When Amupanda was called in as a witness, he denied that Ivan Skrywer had used the letterhead of the mayor.”
The Villager could not reach Amupanda for comment at the time of publication.
IPC spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge stated that with the removal of Davids from Windhoek municipality, along with former management committee chairperson, Fillemon Hambuda, the party is now waiting on the vacant positions to be gazetted.
“Once the position has been gazetted, definitely, the next person, depending on what we want to be doing there, it will happen very soon.”
“The party’s constitution is the guiding tool. You stick to it based on the principles we stand for, then you will not have a problem. The moment you go out of that, then you will definitely be dealt with by the constitution itself,” he told The Villager.
This comes as Davids told The Villager that her suspension was in contravention of IPC’s constitution which states that a member may not be suspended before they have had a chance to answer to allegations.
Itula dropped the call on The Villager when he was approached for comment.
