Werner Menges
13 May 2008
A VACANCY that arose on the High Court bench with the retirement of the court's longest-serving member, Judge Mavis Gibson, has been filled with the appointment of Windhoek lawyer Nate Ndauendapo as a High Court Judge.
Judge Gibson retired from the High Court bench at the end of April.
Having served as a Judge of Namibia's High Court since December 18 1995, she was at the time of her retirement the longest-serving member of Namibia's High Court judiciary.
Judge Gibson joined the Namibian judiciary after she had served as a Judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe for the previous eleven years.
While on the bench of the High Court of Namibia, she at times also served as an Acting Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court.
Although she has officially retired, Judge Gibson will still be returning to the bench in June to finalise a partly heard criminal trial that she is presiding over.
The President appointed Ndauendapo on a recommendation from the Judicial Service Commission as a Judge of the High Court with effect from May 1, it was announced from the office of Chief Justice Peter Shivute on Thursday last week.
Ndauendapo had previously - from mid-January to the end of March this year, and over a two-and-a-half month period in the latter half of 2006 - served as an Acting Judge of the High Court.
At the age of 42, he is now the youngest member of the High Court bench.
Ndauendapo was admitted as a legal practitioner in Namibia in 1994.
He was born at Otjiwarongo, where he also attended primary school before matriculating at Augustineum Secondary School in Windhoek.
Ndauendapo studied law at the University of Cape Town, graduating with BA and LLB degrees from UCT in 1992.
He was one of the first black Namibians to graduate from the UCT law school.
After being admitted as a legal practitioner in Namibia, he returned to UCT in 1995 to obtain a Master's degree in maritime law.
He has been running his own law firm in Windhoek since 1998.
Ndauendapo was also admitted to the Cape Bar last year.
Another appointment to the High Court bench was also announced on Thursday.
Former High Court Judge Theo Frank, a senior counsel who is practising law as a member of the Society of Advocates of Namibia, has been appointed as an Acting Judge of the High Court from May 15 to the end of July, it was announced.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
