By: Kelvin Chiringa
A court duel between sports minister, Agnes Tjongarero and Namibia Sports Commission chief administrator, Freddy Mwiya, which had been slated for Friday the 27th of May 2022 in the Windhoek High Court has been pushed to next week Monday due to a conflict of interest on the part of the judge handling the matter.
Judge Esi Schimming Chase postponed to Monday, the 30th of May 2022 because of conflict of interest as she is related to the minister.
The reveal application has been brought by Mwiya who seeks to stop the sports minister, Tjongarero, from advertising his position.
Represented by Ndaitwah Legal Practitioner, Mwiya has accused the minister of violating Section 23(1) of the Sports Act of 2003.
The Act allows her the power to appoint a chief administrator based on a recommendation by the commission.
In several letters seen by Eagle FM, Tjongarero has resisted a decision by the commission to extend Mwiya’s contract by another five years, citing that he has performed exceptionally well in his position.
The minister has told the now collapsed commission that she felt that the post should be made vacant to give Namibians a fair chance and that Mwiya himself was free to also apply.
However, Mwiya’s lawyers have said that the minister did not have the option of making such a decision given that the Act says that “she must” appoint a chief administrator with the recommendation of the commission.
They expressed that the wording of the Act did not give the minister discretion.
However, the urgent court application is understood to be part of a broader fight between the minister and the commission whose board she dismantled this week, accusing it of insubordination and not carrying out decisions made by the appointing authority.
The Villager can, however, report with confidence that Mwiya has received the sympathy and support of many stakeholders, some whom have expressed that the minister was acting out of “revenge and jealousy”.
Sources within the ministry told this publication that Mwiya and Tjongarero have not been seeing each other eye-to-eye and that they have had stormy meetings.
Tjongarero has denied the accusations.
Sports consultant, Olsen Kahiriri, has expressed that the minister is within her right to ask for Mwiya’s position to be put up for advertisement.
“The minister’s powers are in accepting or rejecting the recommendation. The minister also has the power to appoint the commissioners as she also has the power to recall the. So that’s her power and she also have the right to supervise the commissioners because they do not report to Jesus, they report to the minister because she appoints them to do what they are entitled to do”
“In today’s world is it wrong for the minister to require for the position to be re-advertised and for the Namibian people to apply for such a position? That’s my take. I have not seen the court papers in terms of an urgent application, in respect of the extension of the Chief Administrators of the Sports Commission. But it is within his right if he wants to challenge such a decision,” said Kahiriri.
He also said that the minister’s feelings are that the commissioners are incompetent.
“I have said it time and again that those commissioners should have been recalled years ago. Look at the petitions and the writings that we have put on the wall. We have made it clear that these people are not there for the interest of the Namibian people,” he added.
