Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Advocate Richard Metcalfe has criticised his former client, Reinhold Shipwikineni, following his withdrawal as his legal representative in the case against Swapo and its presidential candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
Metcalfe stated that his professional relationship with Shipwikineni had broken down irretrievably, making it impossible for him to continue representing him.
“Shipwikineni misrepresents himself as an attorney and refuses to accept cogent legal advice. He appears, with the utmost respect, to be addicted to prevarication and deception in order to advance his nefarious ego,” Metcalfe said.
Metcalfe refuted claims that he had been threatened by the deputy chief justice, Petrus Damaseb, calling Shipwikineni’s statements false and self-serving.
“It is a bald lie propagated by Shipwikineni for his own self-serving purposes,” Metcalfe said.
He further accused Shipwikineni of misrepresenting himself as an attorney and refusing to accept legal advice.
“Shipwikineni misrepresents himself as an attorney and refuses to accept cogent legal advice,” he stated.
Shipwikineni, however, dismissed Metcalfe’s remarks, saying he had no interest in exchanging words with him.
“Our status report dated 4 February represents the facts. Whoever believes Metcalfe didn’t say it, will ignore their own name in the future,” Shipwikineni said.
He accused Metcalfe of prioritising money over his clients, and he claimed the lawyer had a history of withdrawing from cases after taking legal fees.
“We have now acknowledged that Metcalfe has a tendency to dump clients after milking more money from them. Yesterday, I was checking his legal records, and what I found were records of withdrawal and dumping clients in legal battles,” he said.
Shipwikineni also called on the Law Society to take responsibility and urged the National Assembly to amend the Legal Practitioners Act to introduce stricter measures against unethical lawyers.
“Lawyers should represent their clients with honesty and consult with them instead of engaging in legal misrepresentation. They must avoid conflicts of interest as well,” he said.
