Windhoek: The Windhoek High Court has nullified the Rundu Town Council's (RTC) decision to sell the erf currently occupied by the Namibia Mbangura Wood Carvers Cooperative. The judgment was delivered in a case between the cooperative, as the applicant, and the RTC.

According to Namibia Press Agency, court documents reveal that the cooperative was granted permission to occupy the erf in 1991 and has since operated on the property, engaging in woodwork and joinery to generate income for community members. In 2010, the cooperative expressed interest in purchasing the property, and the Rundu Town Council outlined the procedures required to initiate the sale. By August 2017, the cooperative formally submitted its application to buy the erf.

Court records further indicate that by October 2023, it was agreed that the property would be sold to the cooperative, pending a public notice to allow for objections. The cooperative accepted the offer and requested the RTC's banking details to proceed with the payment. However, in January 2024, the RTC published a general notice in a local newspaper inviting tenders from the public for the purchase of the same property. In that same month, the RTC finalized a sale agreement with a Chinese company, Jianwen Investment, for N.dollars 1,487,760, with Jianwen paying N.dollars 892,656 in January and settling the remaining amount in February 2024.

Feeling aggrieved, the Namibia Mbangura Wood Carvers Cooperative launched a review application in court. The High Court found that minutes from the RTC's meeting on 23 November 2023 did not reflect any valid justification for reversing the decision to sell the property to the cooperative. As a result, the court declared the sale agreement between RTC and Jianwen Investment null and void.

The town council has been ordered to reconsider the cooperative's application and provide written reasons for any decision made. Additionally, the council must refund all amounts paid by Jianwen Investment and cover the cooperative's legal costs.