Justicia Shipena
Prime minister Elijah Ngurare and ten others must next month state whether they will oppose the lawsuit filed by the school board of Windhoek High School (WHS) against the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.
On Thursday, during a status hearing, High Court judge Thomas Masuku allowed the school board to add eleven more respondents to the case.
The board had applied in June to include them in the ongoing dispute over the appointment of a new principal for WHS.
The new respondents are the prime minister, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, the chairperson of the Teaching Service Committee and the chairperson of the National Advisory Council on Education.
Others include Paulus Lewin, Marcia Smith, Sindano Rupembe, Bertus Bock, Aloisia Negongo, Paskalia Kashindi, and Albertina Amukonda. Their addition brings the total number of respondents to fifteen.
They have until 12 December 2025 to inform the court if they will oppose the case.
The dispute began in May when the WHS board challenged the ministry’s decision to appoint Teofilus Nuugulu, the principal of Okahandja Secondary School, as the new head of WHS.
His appointment was rejected by the board chaired by Tertius Stears, who argued that Nuugulu lacked the technical and leadership skills required to lead the institution.
Although Nuugulu ranked first in the interviews with a score of 61.2%, the board said this was too low for a school of Windhoek High’s standard.
Marcia Smith followed with 60.6%, and Sindano Rupembe with 56.8%.
Stears described Nuugulu’s score as “underwhelming”, saying the successful candidate should have scored significantly higher.
The education ministry however, defended its decision, saying the recruitment process followed the same procedures applied to all government schools, including those classified as schools of excellence.
The school board filed its review application on 17 April 2025, challenging certain decisions made by the ministry. It later faced challenges in serving the application on one of the intended respondents.
To resolve the issue, the court granted permission on 23 August 2025 for substituted service, allowing documents to be delivered by email, WhatsApp, and newspaper notices.
The ministry submitted the review record on 3 June 2025 after a court order issued on 22 May 2025. However, the school board maintained that the record filed by the ministry is incomplete.
The court has ordered the school board to serve its review application on the new respondents by 21 November 2025.
The matter has been postponed to 22 January 2026 at 08h30 for another status hearing. All parties must file a joint status report by 19 January 2026.
The school board is represented by Francois Erasmus & Partners.
The Ministry and its officials are represented by the office of the government attorney, while Nuugulu is represented by Metcalfe Beukes Attorneys.
The court will decide on the costs of the joinder application when the main review resumes.
