Push for black liquidators

Lawyer Kadhila Amoomo has backed proposals to overhaul the insolvency field so that black Namibians can be appointed as liquidators.

Amoomo told The Namibian on Friday that there is a need for the Law Society of Namibia and the Namibian Competition Commission (NCC) to intervene to effect an equitable transformation of the industry.

According to Amoomo, there were similar monopolistic issues in the past in terms of estate administration, as well as conveyancing, which was resolved by the NCC.

“After the intervention of authorities such as the NCC, we are now starting to see much more balanced patterns of appointing estate administrators as well as conveyancers,” he said.

He noted that black lawyers are equally able to liquidate but are not instructed to do so, which is an issue of exclusion.

“This is an issue of exclusion which obviously has a historical context,” Amoomo said, adding that most black lawyers have only been exposed to dealing with criminal law and ordinary civil litigation.

“This is the kind of work that they have been exposed to throughout their training because most black–owned law firms do not receive these kinds of instructions at all. And even when you find a black lawyer in a white-owned law firm, they are somehow sidelined to criminal litigation and ordinary civil litigation,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Mese Tjituri of Tjituri Law Chambers, who agreed that there is a need for transformation in the insolvency sector.

However, he was quick to point out that liquidation is a complex process that requires a lot of expertise and time, which perhaps some black lawyers do not have.

“Either that, or it could be that whoever is the appointing authority in this regard has monopolised the system in one way or another.

Which is possible, because for starters, we have had the same deputy sheriff since I was born, which begs the question whether there are no other suitors for the job.

“But the fact is that, when it comes to liquidation in particular, one gets to encounter the same faces over and over again,” he said. Amoomo and Tjituri were responding to an issue raised by works and transport deputy minister Veikko Nekundi, who has urged justice minister Yvonne Dausab to ensure that black Namibians are not discriminated against when it comes to them being appointed as trustees.

Nekundi, who was contributing to the trust administration amendment bill, wanted to know how the justice minister would ensure transparency in trust administration.

“I want the minister to assure this house of the safeguards necessary to ensure that the master of the High Court will not go in the same direction he or she has been in terms of liquidators.

“And what are those guidelines that you or whoever comes after you will ensure, that if the master goes, with the line of appointing liquidators in terms of race, is corrected?”

The Swapo lawmaker was expressing concern about what he claimed was a lack of transparency and impartiality in the insolvency sector.
He said the master of the High Court, who appoints liquidators, has failed to transform the sector, which continues to be dominated by white practitioners.

Nekundi claims that in the 33 years since independence, no black liquidator has been appointed by the office of theMasters of the High Court. He mentioned as an example the cases of the SME Bank and Air Namibia, both of which are being handled by liquidators Ian McLaren and David Bruni.

“The trustees’ practitioners will be appointed by the master of the High Court, that does not see fit that a black person can also be a liquidator. “And the same person is the one who is going to appoint practitioners (trustees), and there are no preferential guidelines to ensure that persons of all colours are accommodated as trust practitioners,” Nekundi said.

Meanwhile, Dausab said regulations will be put in place to “open up the space for more people to be appointed as trust practitioners”.

She said the trustees and trust practitioners are currently not regulated in practice in terms of the 1934 act.

“These persons also charge exorbitant fees and drastically reduce trust assets to the detriment of the trust beneficiaries. In addition, we have managed to strengthen our law and put safeguards in place to increase transparency in trusts and thereby reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing,” she said.