Justicia Shipena
The Supreme Court says the property on which Oshoto Pension Hotel operates was never for northern businessman and husband to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Onesmus “Tona” Amadhila, to claim.
The court ruled on Thursday that any rights to the land belonged to a close corporation (CC) and not to Amadhila.
The ruling ends his attempt to undo the 2017 transfer of the erf to the son of his former business partner.
The dispute dates back to an oral agreement Amadhila said he made with Tobias Mundjele in 2007.
He said they agreed that erf 1784, extension 5 in Ondangwa, would be transferred into a CC they both held, with each owning a 50% stake.
The Supreme Court found that even if such an agreement existed, it created rights for the CC and not for Amadhila in his personal capacity.
The court held that the agreement was a stipulatio alteri—a contract for the benefit of a third party.
The third party was the CC, first registered as Mouse Properties No. 24 CC and later renamed Oshoto Guesthouse CC.
Because the CC was the intended beneficiary, the judges said Amadhila had no legal standing to demand the property’s transfer or to challenge later decisions involving the land.
Amadhila approached the courts after discovering in 2019 that Mundjele had transferred the property to his son, Josef Penda Mundjele, in 2017 through a deed of donation.
He said the transfer was unlawful and asked the courts to set it aside.
The court found no grounds to do so. It said Amadhila did not allege fraud on the part of the son and did not show that the son knew about any earlier agreement.
The judges said the donation could not be undone based on the relief Amadhila sought.
The court also dismissed his argument that he should receive a remedy because he held a 50% membership interest in the CC.
It said any rights had to be enforced by the CC itself and that the Close Corporation Act provided the relevant remedies.
The court did not address the special plea of prescription because these findings settled the matter.
The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the fees of one instructing and one instructed legal practitioner.
Caption
Onesmus “Tona” Amadhila
- Photo: Contributed
