The IPC has said Ciske Howard-Smith, who was elected as the Erongo regional Constituency councillor in November last year, has not submitted factual evidence to prove that she is a resident of the Swakopmund constituency.
Howard-Smith told the media on Wednesday that the IPC chief patriot Dr Panduleni Itula had suspended her by word of mouth.
The party, however, had denied suspending Howard-Smith, with the national spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge asking for proof.
Later, the party wrote to Howard-Smith on 20 October, informing her that she had been restrained from representing or acting in any manner whatsoever on the Erongo Regional Council.
The letter signed by the IPC national general secretary Christine Esperanza Aochamus accuses Howard-Smith of failing to submit factual evidence that she is an ordinary resident of Swakopmund.
Aochamus cites the regional Council Act 22 of 1992 section 6(1) (a) that says: subject to the provision of Article 17 (2) of the Namibian Constitution; no person shall be qualified to be a member of a regional council unless they are ordinarily resident within the constituency.
The party also accuses Howard-Smith of posting a message on social media that read: Leaders, Let it be known. I am done with IPC. This party is NOT the party we thiought (sic) it was. Think very careful about your position here. It’s rule by spineless leaders.
Aochamus said: “On the basis of the above, I have hereby directed in terms of Article 4.52.4 of the IPC constitution, the Swakopmund constituency IPC branch to conduct an investigation and on the strength of the findings to find a redress/ remedy.”
According to Aochamus, the restraint order is meant to facilitate and ensure that Howard-Smith does not continue representing the IPC in the Erongo Regional Council on the IPC ticket contrary to the provisions of Section 6.
“An investigation committee shall be appointed in accordance with the IPC constitution to investigate your conduct fully, and you are hereby requested in accordance with the principles of IPC Constitution Article 2.4 and Article 4.50 to cooperate with the investigation in order to allow for a rapid conclusion thereof,” Aochamus wrote.
Howard-Smith told Eagle FM on Wednesday that the issue was about her stand against a Henties Bay councillor who was involved in corrupt activities.
She said that when she queried the issue, she was told that the party could do nothing because the accusations came from the past before the IPC was formed.
According to Howard-Smith, she joined the party because she believed that this was the proper party.
Howard-Smith also said she was called a racist on a WhatsApp group, and things got out of hand. She said some people in the group called her a racist.
Howard-Smith said she was then called for a meeting in Windhoek, where she met Dr Itula and others to discuss the matter and was accused of all sorts of things.
The councillor said that Dr Itula told her verbally that he was suspending her without any consultations.
