Party lays charges against two MPs
By Kuvee Kangueehi
WINDHOEK
The fight for the control of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) appears to be far from over. In the latest development, the Chairperson of the CoD Tsudao Gurirab has reported two cases to the police – one of theft and another one of unauthorized use of CoD cars by Members of Parliament Nora Schimming-Chase and Kala Gertze respectively.
Gurirab reported a case of theft at the Klein Windhoek satellite police office in which he claimed that a party cheque from government in excess of N$300 000 was stolen. On the same day he reported a case of unauthorized use of two CoD cars at the Wanaheda police station.
Gurirab confirmed the two cases and said he had informed the police that the two suspects in the cases are Schimming-Chase and Gertze.
Contacted for comment, Gertze said the police had not made contact with him but confirmed that he was in possession of two CoD cars. He said the CoD gave him the mandate to take custody of the cars and that they are in good care.
Schimming-Chase could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, the two warring CoD factions met with the chairperson of the audit panel, Clement Daniels, on Friday to discuss the outcome of the audit and to pave the way forward.
At the meeting, the Ulenga group strongly contested the outcome of the audit and claimed that the audit was incomplete and unbalanced. The group called on the audit panel to continue with the audit and to come up with a more comprehensive report. The other faction was satisfied with the outcome of the audit.
The Shixwameni group at the meeting asked the audit panel to invoke clause seven of the terms of reference, which calls for the current leadership to resign and an interim committee to be set up. The interim committee will constitute six persons, three from each group.
The Shixwameni group yesterday afternoon was expected to hold a meeting to elect their three representatives on the interim committee. Gertze yesterday confirmed to New Era that they expected to hold a meeting and said he was happy with the outcome of the audit.
Gertze said they would submit the names of their representatives to the audit panel today before a meeting tomorrow to map the way forward. He said he was happy with the outcome of the audit, saying this was a victory for the CoD and democracy.
“The process opens up the CoD for everyone and it serves as a clear example of how political parties can solve their internal problems,” he stated.