By: Kelvin Chiringa
Ondonga King Immanuel Kauluma Elifas, who is in the eye of the storm of an ongoing court battle against seven dismissed councillors, now wants the judge handling the case in the High Court to recuse himself from the matter.
King Elifas, who has been battling ill-health for times past, is pitted against the following traditional leaders, Peter Kauluma, Joseph Asino, John Walenga, Vilho Kamanya, Kashona kaMalulu, Tonata Ngulu and Fillemon Nambili.
The King wants, in the event that his desire is granted, the deputy judge president or the registrar to have the matter allocated to another judge.
A party before court proceedings may launch an application for the recusal of a judicial officer.
But the test requires an objective and reasonable apprehension by the applicant that the judicial officer would not adjudicate the matter in an impartial manner or without prejudice to the applicant.
This past week, by order of the High Court, the King’s application for recusal was set down on the 17th of September 2019 for opposed motion hearing.
The applicants were ordered to deliver their heads of arguments on or before the 27th of August while the traditional leaders will have to do the same on or before the 2nd of September 2019.
The Ondonga kingdom’s woes emanate from a time the King allegedly penned a letter to the urban and rural development ministry telling government that Fillemon Nangolo Shuumbwa was the next in line and the king’s right–hand man.
A dispute arose in which some went as far as claiming that this letter was forged.
A knee-jack reaction came from the dismissed officials who knocked on the high court doors to have the King’s decision revoked as well as to halt any appointment of new persons to replace them.
Six of the councillors believe the King is being remote controlled and deny that he was the one who made the decision to have them dismissed willy-nilly.
The Ondonga leadership crisis and legal fight also led to the filing of an urgent court application to have King Elifas mentally examined to determine if he was mentally sound to carry out responsibilities.
The King was also last year called upon to provide oral evidence in the Oshakati High Court on issues surrounding the dismissal.
The matter appeared last week Friday on the court roll before Judge Geier in the Windhoek High Court building chambers.
