Sheriff directed to attach belongings of Amupanda

The registrar of the High Court has directed the court’s deputy sheriff for the district of Windhoek to attach movable goods of Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda and sell it to raise an amount of N$91 440.

A writ of execution directing the deputy sheriff to attach movable property of Amupanda at his home address at the Eros area of Windhoek was issued on Tuesday.

This step results from a costs order given against Amupanda in the Windhoek High Court in December 2023, when he was ordered to pay one day’s wasted legal costs of his opponents in his court battle against Namibia’s veterinary cordon fence (redline).

A lawyer representing the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) and commercial farmers Diethelm Metzger and Andre Compion filed the writ of execution directing the deputy sheriff to attach and sell some of Amupanda’s belongings at the court on Tuesday.

The NAU, Metzger and Compion are opposing Amupanda’s attempt to have the erection of the veterinary cordon fence declared unconstitutional and to have the government ordered to remove the fence.

One of their lawyers, Shaun Ellis, initially presented a legal fees bill of N$147 150 to the High Court after the costs order was given against Amupanda, but an official in the office of the court’s registrar reduced the amount to N$91 440 after assessing the bill.

The costs order against Amupanda was issued after the court was informed in December 2023 that he intended to amend the claim about the redline that he filed against the minister of agriculture, water and rural development, the government, the attorney general and an agriculture ministry official two and a half years earlier, in May 2021.

Amupanda testified before judge Shafimana Ueitele in support of his claim last week.

The defendants in the matter informed the judge at the end of his testimony that they will be asking for his claim to be dismissed without them being required to present evidence on their opposition to his claim to the court.

Ueitele is due to hear oral arguments on the defendants’ applications for the dismissal of the claim today.

Amupanda did not respond to an enquiry about the writ of execution yesterday.

In a judgement delivered by Ueitele in October last year, Amupanda received protection from being ordered to pay the legal costs of his opponents in the redline case if he ends up losing his court battle against them.