‘PDM 6’ demand N$8m from parliament
Six Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) members of parliament, who were unlawfully removed from the 2019 gazetted party parliamentary list before spending two years fighting the matter in court, are now demanding full payment of the amount they would have earned had they not been removed – totalling N$8 million.
Hidipo Hamata, Charmaine Tjirare, Yvette Araes, Maximalliant Katjimune, Raymond Diergaardt and Mike Venaani were removed from the official list of elected PDM members after the results of the November 2019 elections were announced by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
After their removal, Hamata and Tjirare challenged the decision in the Electoral Court, which ruled in their favour.
The PDM appealed the ruling in the Supreme Court, but the appeal was dismissed, paving the way for the six affected members to finally join parliament in June 2022.
This came more than two years after all lawmakers elected in 2019 were sworn in, in March 2020.
No way back
None of the six members have any realistic prospects of returning to parliament after last week’s general election, in which the PDM is expected to lose 11 of the 16 seats they won in 2019, according to the latest available statistics from late yesterday.
The party is projected to win a maximum of five seats.
At number 10 on the PDM parliamentary list for this year’s election, Katjimune is the best positioned to return among the six members seeking payment from parliament.
As it stood yesterday, National Assembly seats allocated to PDM will be occupied by party leader McHenry Venaani, as well as Winnie Moongo, Ricky Vries and Rosa Mbinge Tjeundo. Inna Hengari, placed fifth on the party list, has a slim chance of securing the fifth seat for the party.
Both Hamata and Katjimune referred Namibian Sun to their lawyers for comment yesterday.
Unlawful omission
According to their lawyer Norman Tjombe, their removal from the 2019 list of MPs violated the Namibian Constitution and the Electoral Act, which mandates that only the chairperson of the electoral commission has the authority to declare the list of duly elected MPs.
Tjombe said his clients should have been sworn in as members of the National Assembly on 20 March 2020 – the date set by the ECN. However, their names were initially omitted from the swearing-in process, which was only rectified on 6 June 2022 after the courts ruled in their favour.
Legal demands
A Namibian Sun calculation shows that each of the six members lost an income of N$1 342 000 between March 2020 and June 2022, bringing their combined total to just over N$8 million. Members of parliament earn N$51 000 monthly and N$620 000 annually.
"Our instructions are to demand, as we hereby do, that our clients be paid their regular remuneration, including the provision for the pension contributions, as from 20 March 2020, failing which legal action will be instituted against the National Assembly, with costs, and that we receive written confirmation of the payment by no later than 11 December 2024," the group's legal letter of demand states.
National Assembly secretary-general Lydia Kandetu could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Hidipo Hamata, Charmaine Tjirare, Yvette Araes, Maximalliant Katjimune, Raymond Diergaardt and Mike Venaani were removed from the official list of elected PDM members after the results of the November 2019 elections were announced by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
After their removal, Hamata and Tjirare challenged the decision in the Electoral Court, which ruled in their favour.
The PDM appealed the ruling in the Supreme Court, but the appeal was dismissed, paving the way for the six affected members to finally join parliament in June 2022.
This came more than two years after all lawmakers elected in 2019 were sworn in, in March 2020.
No way back
None of the six members have any realistic prospects of returning to parliament after last week’s general election, in which the PDM is expected to lose 11 of the 16 seats they won in 2019, according to the latest available statistics from late yesterday.
The party is projected to win a maximum of five seats.
At number 10 on the PDM parliamentary list for this year’s election, Katjimune is the best positioned to return among the six members seeking payment from parliament.
As it stood yesterday, National Assembly seats allocated to PDM will be occupied by party leader McHenry Venaani, as well as Winnie Moongo, Ricky Vries and Rosa Mbinge Tjeundo. Inna Hengari, placed fifth on the party list, has a slim chance of securing the fifth seat for the party.
Both Hamata and Katjimune referred Namibian Sun to their lawyers for comment yesterday.
Unlawful omission
According to their lawyer Norman Tjombe, their removal from the 2019 list of MPs violated the Namibian Constitution and the Electoral Act, which mandates that only the chairperson of the electoral commission has the authority to declare the list of duly elected MPs.
Tjombe said his clients should have been sworn in as members of the National Assembly on 20 March 2020 – the date set by the ECN. However, their names were initially omitted from the swearing-in process, which was only rectified on 6 June 2022 after the courts ruled in their favour.
Legal demands
A Namibian Sun calculation shows that each of the six members lost an income of N$1 342 000 between March 2020 and June 2022, bringing their combined total to just over N$8 million. Members of parliament earn N$51 000 monthly and N$620 000 annually.
"Our instructions are to demand, as we hereby do, that our clients be paid their regular remuneration, including the provision for the pension contributions, as from 20 March 2020, failing which legal action will be instituted against the National Assembly, with costs, and that we receive written confirmation of the payment by no later than 11 December 2024," the group's legal letter of demand states.
National Assembly secretary-general Lydia Kandetu could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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