This report is from The Namibian, published on 3 July 2025.

Legal practitioner Kadhila Amoomo (pictured above right) has accused the government of delaying the review of cannabis legalisation to drain financial resources.

"What the government is doing is parking the rights of people for administrative decisions. It is only the government that is more powerful with a big budget, and big lawyers to fatigue the plaintiffs," he says.

Amoomo said this at the judgement hearing at the High Court on 2 July 2025.

Judges Claudia Claasen, Dinah Usiku and Philanda Christiaan have postponed the ruling to 12 August 2025.

"The matter is reserved for ruling on 12 August at 10h00," Claasen said.

This comes after the state called for a special plea to withdraw the Law Reform and Development Commission of Namibia (LRDC) from the list of defendants.

Amoomo is representing Ganja Users of Namibia (GUN) founders Brian Jaftha and Borro Ndungula, who are calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis due to religious beliefs and medical practices.

The founders are calling for the removal of cannabis from the Abuse of Dependence-Producing Substances and Rehabilitation Act, 1995.

He said the act is outdated and should be removed from the list of substances in schedule eight of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965.

Amoomo also argued that Jaftha and Ndungula have faced prejudice and their rights have been infringed upon. Jaftha has served two years since his arrest due to possession of cannabis.

The legal practitioner said the LRDC only provides a recommendation to the minister of justice who is not responsible to act upon it.

"People are being prosecuted on a daily basis on religious grounds while the government waits for a recommendation from the law reform [commission]," he said.

However, the government's lawyer is calling for a special plea that claims the dispute is not ready to be settled in the High Court due to its sensitive nature.

State advocate Dennis Khama argued that the matter is already being handled by an independent state body.

"We are pleading with the court to say that this matter is a complex issue and the implications are broader than what the plaintiffs are calling for," he said.

Khama also argued that due to dependency syndrome, the decision to use cannabis for religious and medical purposes is not 'ripe' and ready for judicial intervention.

#