Amushelelo sued by police chief over online remarks

NAMIBIAN Police inspector general Joseph Shikongo is asking the High Court to hold social activist Michael Amushelelo in contempt of court because of comments that he made in a social media post last week.

In an urgent application filed on Thursday and heard by acting judge Doris Hans-Kaumbi yesterday, Shikongo is asking the court to first order Amushelelo to immediately remove remarks about Shikongo that he posted on his Facebook page on 31 March, and to later declare that Amushelelo was in contempt of court by making the remarks.

According to Shikongo, Amushelelo’s remarks violate an order issued in October last year in a defamation case between Shikongo and Amushelelo.

That court order was issued after Amushelelo and Shikongo agreed to settle a defamation case in which Shikongo sued Amushelelo for N$1 million in connection with previous remarks he had made about a fatal road collision in which Shikongo was involved in northern Namibia in December 2022. In a settlement agreement that was made an order of the High Court, it was recorded that Amushelelo tendered an apology to Shikongo and that he provided “a formal and binding undertaking” to refrain from making or publishing any further statements similar to the ones about which Shikongo instituted a defamation claim against him.

Shikongo is claiming that Amushelelo again made defamatory remarks about him on his Facebook page last week, and that this was in direct contravention of the court order issued in October last year.

In his remarks, Amushelelo alleged Shikongo has not been held accountable for his actions in the fatal collision in which he was involved, and said it should be demanded that Shikongo be arrested in connection with the accident, which claimed the lives of three people.

Shikongo is alleging that Amushelelo’s remarks “imply that I committed culpable homicide” and “suggest that I received preferential treatment and was not held accountable for my actions”.

This, Shikongo claims, is despite Amushelelo being informed that the police docket on an investigation of the fatal accident has been sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General for a decision to be made on whether he will be prosecuted in connection with the incident.

Shikongo also says in a sworn statement filed at the court: “The [Facebook] post contains serious allegations that could undermine public confidence in me as inspector general of the Namibian Police and in the police force generally, potentially affecting the effective functioning of the police force and national security.

“My constitutional office requires public confidence and trust to function effectively, and the ongoing publication of these contemptuous statements directly undermines this confidence and trust.”

Amushelelo was present in court yesterday and informed Hans-Kaumbi that he has started a campaign to raise money to pay for legal practitioners to represent him in the matter. Amushelelo said N$32 000 has been raised to far, and that he needs about N$100 000 to instruct the lawyers of his choice to represent him. He asked Hans-Kaumbi to postpone the hearing of the urgent application to Friday, to give him more time to raise money for his legal representation.

However, Hans-Kaumbi gave him until yesterday afternoon to return to court with legal representation, and told him that the hearing would proceed in the afternoon.

When she directed in the afternoon that the matter should proceed despite Amushelelo still not having legal representation, he complained that this violated his rights by throwing him in front of a hyena like a sheep, and informed the judge that he wanted to apply for her recusal from the case. Amushelelo was given time to prepare a recusal application, on which he later addressed Hans-Kaumbi.

Shikongo’s lawyer, Nambili Mhata, opposed the application for the judge to step down from the matter, and Hans-Kaumbi postponed her ruling on the request for her recusal to yesterday evening.