The SADC Secretariat regrets to announce the burning of the SADC Tribunal Offices in Windhoek, the Republic of Namibia early this morning. The police report indicates that the fire started at about 03h00 am today, Thursday, January 18, 2007.
Although the extent of the damage and the losses incurred shall be assessed at a later stage, preliminary indicators are that the Tribunal House has been damaged with the Court Room severely burnt. However, most of the offices for the staff have not been affected.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and the police are handling the matter while forensic experts will begin their investigations in due course.
Further information will be made available as soon as a thorough assessment and inspection of the damage has been made and circumstances surrounding the cause of the fire have been established.
The SADC Tribunal House was officially inaugurated in November 2006 after the appointment of ten (10) Members of the Tribunal by Summit in August 2006.
The Tribunal is a SADC Institution constituted under the Treaty of SADC, with the jurisdiction over all disputes between SADC Member States and between natural or legal persons and States, and over applications referred to it. The Tribunal also has jurisdiction to give legal advisory opinions, which may be requested by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, or by the SADC Council of Ministers.