Suspended Rundu lawyer fights for reinstatement
A Rundu-based lawyer who was placed on suspension by the Law Society of Namibia (LSN) earlier this year has claimed there is a witch-hunt against him and that the society is abusing the court in this regard.Ricardo Mukonda is barred from practicing pending a disciplinary enquiry into allegations of unethical and unprofessional conduct.
He stands accused of misappropriating N$650 000 of a client's money from his law firm’s trust fund. According to court records, he refused to transfer the funds to the client, which subsequently led to his suspension.
Mukonda is also being investigated for charging the client, Alfred Ndabeni, N$89 000 - despite only obtaining a default judgment. He has been requested to provide a detailed invoice breakdown.
Negatively affecting clients
In court papers filed recently, Mukonda argued that his suspension is negatively affecting his clients.
“The conduct of the applicant [LSN], in which the first respondent [Mukonda] is presumed guilty and the applicant is engaging in a witch-hunt, is prejudicing not only the first and second respondents [Mukonda & Co Inc law firm], but also clients - some of whom are still being detained when they are supposed to be released from detention, due to the temporary suspension,” he argued.
“It is evident that the applicant is abusing the court process to subject the first and second respondents to unfair proceedings by abusing the court process.”
While Mukonda’s suspension was initially set to lapse on 5 September, the LSN applied to court seeking another 30 days to issue a search and seizure warrant of the lawyer’s client records.
Background
The LSN approached the High Court following a complaint lodged against Mukonda and his law firm by Ndabeni on 29 April.
The discord between the two started when Ndabeni sought Mukonda’s services to deal with a matter with the Katima Mulilo town council.
Mukonda successfully managed to get a default judgment in favour of his client, and just over N$1.4 million was to be paid to Ndabeni through the law firm’s trust fund.
On 13 April 2021, the town council made the first payment of N$650 000 into fund, which was supposed to be paid over to Ndabeni.
This money was, however, not relayed to the client, who said he has not received it to date.
According to the trust fund’s bank records, by 30 September 2021, the account only had N$31 in it.
On 16 November 2021, the Katima Mulilo town council made a second payment of N$761 645, and this time around, the money was paid over to Ndabeni.
With the firm unwilling to pay the outstanding N$650 000, Ndabeni turned to the LSN.
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