RedForce-Sankwasa dispute set for 20 October ruling

The High Court is expected to deliver its ruling on 20 October on RedForce Debt Management’s legal challenge against urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa’s directive concerning the company’s debt-collection agreement with the Walvis Bay municipality.Acting High Court judge James Divittie heard arguments from RedForce and Sankwasa on Tuesday before postponing the matter to 10:00 on 20 October for judgment.That is almost three weeks after Sankwasa’s 30 September deadline for the municipality to act on the attorney-general’s legal opinion on the agreement.RedForce asked the court to declare part of Sankwasa’s 10 September directive unlawful and of no force or effect, or to review and set it aside. It also asked the court to restrain the minister, council and municipal officials from terminating, cancelling or suspending the agreement, or withdrawing its mandate.Divittie’s 29 September order did not grant that relief. It also did not say Sankwasa’s deadline was suspended or that the municipality was barred from acting on his directive pending judgment.The 30 September date is not when RedForce’s agreement expires, but the deadline Sankwasa gave the municipality to act on the attorney-general’s opinion.Sankwasa challenges contract’s legalitySankwasa maintains the RedForce contract was not legally executed, citing the attorney-general’s opinion, which he says found it did not comply with section 31A of the Local Authorities Act.He argues that awarding a tender and executing the resulting contract are separate legal processes, and that the authority to award RedForce the tender did not remove statutory requirements for signing a municipal agreement.Sankwasa has also questioned the extra costs residents face when their municipal accounts are handed to RedForce for collection, saying they must settle their municipal debts and also pay debt-collection charges.He has questioned why municipalities outsource debt collection while employing their own staff to do the same work, previously describing the arrangement as “double expenditure”.The finance ministry has taken a different position on the procurement aspect, saying an accounting officer has authority under the Public Procurement Act to award and sign procurement contracts and that the absence of co-signing does not invalidate a contract under that Act.The ministry’s advice, however, was confined to the Public Procurement Act and did not interpret the Local Authorities Act, which forms the basis of Sankwasa’s position.

RedForce-Sankwasa dispute set for 20 October ruling

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-06

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RedForce-Sankwasa dispute set for 20 October ruling

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-06

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