Swapo HiLux Escapes Hammer

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By Kuvee Kangueehi Windhoek The famous Swapo Party car, a Toyota Hilux sporting party colours, was expected to go under the hammer on February 3 after an employee of the party, Salomon Mona Ilovu, failed to pay some personal debts from a cash loan agency. A legal notice was served in a local daily that “Judgment of Court was granted on the 23rd May 2006, that a movable property, namely a Toyota Hilux with party colours with registration N29372W, would be sold by the Messenger of court for the District of Windhoek.” Swapo Party Regional Coordinator, Michael Mwinga, confirmed the intended sale, but noted that there had been a misunderstanding and that the issue had since been resolved. Speaking to New Era yesterday, Mwinga said that after the legal notice in the local daily the party approached the cash loan agency, which is called Rational Investments, and explained to them that Ilovu was only an employee of the party and they could not attach the party’s property on a personal loan. Ilovu had informed him that he had taken out a personal loan but never gave the party’s property as security and only provided his employer’s address. Mwinga said Ilovu must have delayed in making his payments and promised to do so soon. This is not the first time that property of the Swapo Party was placed under threat of being sold because of bad debts of party members. Last year, the regional secretary of the Swapo Party Youth League in the Omaheke Region, Salomo Ngueza Hepundjua, also bought furniture on hire purchase from MegaSave store in Gobabis and failed to pay for the items. The matter went for litigation and Swapo office goods such as chairs, office desks, filing cabinets, office tables, conference tables and computers were about to go under the hammer and were only spared after intervention by the office concerned. Hepundjua, who was suspended in 2004 together with another Swapo Youth league member, Ambrosias Kandjii, was reinstated last year. However, after the incident Hepundjua resigned and is now a full-time farmer.