Kanime fights City's N$7m demands

Windhoek City Police chief Abraham Kanime is fighting tooth and nail against a legal application that he pay the City of Windhoek N$6.8 million.

The money stems from salaries, 13th cheques and allowances paid to him since May 2020 when he was appointed – an appointment that has since been dubbed ‘unlawful’.

Kanime resigned as City Police chief at the end of January 2020, but the council, then under the firm grip of Swapo, decided to retain his services as police chief for a further three years until May this year.

In August 2021, Kanime, who is represented by lawyer Sisa Namandje, launched a High Court bid to stay on in his post for another two years.

Making clear his desire not to reimburse the City, Kanime - in legal papers filed through Namandje - this week said he could not repay the City because he had been asked to stay on as the administrative head of the City Police, which included tasking him with performing important duties on behalf of the City.

Kanime offered three-year contract

“The first respondent [City of Windhoek council] itself, when [Kanime] resigned, asked him to stay on and offered him a three-year contract; the [municipality] identified important tasks that [Kanime] was required to complete within a period of three years,” Namandje said.

Kanime further argued that the council was aware of a legal attempt by then Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) councillor Ignatius Semba to block attempts at his reappointment - but did not consider this when the decision was made to retain him.

Semba submitted a legal application to block the reappointment in April 2020 but this failed, with High Court judge Hannelle Prinsloo striking the application from the roll.

At the time, Semba argued that the City council flouted the law when it decided to approve Kanime's reappointment.

City knowledgeable of bid to stop appointment

“The [municipality] was a party to the Semba application where there was a direct attack on the validity of [Kanime’s] three-year employment contract, yet it did not insist in the Semba application that the court order must incorporate an order dealing with the employment agreement to be [declared] invalid and be set aside,” Namandje said.

The lawyer added that the municipal council, the City of Windhoek, then City CEO Robert Kahimise and the chairperson of the City’s management committee - among other respondents - were obligated to honour Kanime’s employment contract.

“Firstly, the respondents, having employed [Kanime] on a fixed three-year contract, are under peremptory legal obligations under section 11(1) of the Labour Act 11 of 2007 to pay his remuneration,” Namandje said.

“These obligations are part of the mandatory employees’ labour conditions under Chapter 3 of the Labour Act. Therefore, it follows that an order aimed at having [Kanime] repay an already paid remuneration to [the City] is inconsistent,” he added.

'Irreversible' fact

Namandje argued that any demands for repayment on the part of Kanime for work done over the three years was irreversible as he had done work on the part of the City.

“The order seeking monetary repayment of salaries paid for work done is effectively an attempt at an inequitable and skewed restitution. In other words, to pay back the money to the [municipality] without the municipality being able to reciprocally place [Kanime] in the position he was before payment. The fact that Kanime has worked for three years is irreversible,” he said.

The lawyer also questioned the City’s top legal honcho Benedictus Ngairorue, asking why he did not legally inform council that Kanime’s contract was unlawful.

“Mr Benedictus Ngairorue is the chief legal advisor to the council. He did not place the court in his confidence as to why, if he knew at all relevant times the employment contract offered to [Kanime] was unlawful, he did not take any steps during April 2020 to impugn it.”

Kanime was doing City’s work

Namandje argued that Kanime is still tasked to undertake work as directed to him by the City.

“The respondents to this date continue to direct the applicant and give him tasks, including important tasks which he was mandated to conclude within a period of three years.”

According to him, the labour matters surrounding Kanime’s contract are “very sad”.

“This is a sad and sorry state of affairs. The respondents appear to think that the fact that some individuals who were councillors at the time [Kanime] was offered a three-year employment contract ceased to be members of the council at some point and that new members with a different mindset have since assumed office in law differentiate yesteryear’s council from today’s council,” Namandje said.