The office of Justice Claasen has released a communiqué stating the long-running Windhoek High Court Ganja Users of Namibia (GUN) vs Namibian government cannabis trial has been postponed until 6 July 2026 for delivery of judgment.
“Having heard Kadhila Amoomo, on behalf of the plaintiffs and Advocate Dennis Khama, on behalf of the defendants and having read the pleadings and heads of argument…and other documents filed of record: It is ordered that the case is postponed to 6 July 2026 at 09:00 for delivery of judgment,” the statement reads.
This comes after closing arguments were heard on Friday 22 May 2026 in the case in which GUN is litigating for the decriminalisation of cannabis for medicinal, spiritual and religious purposes, citing constitutional rights.
GUN President Brian Jaftha and Secretary General Borro Ndungula are the plaintiffs while five government entities under the Office of the Government Attorney are the defendants: the Prosecutor-General, the Inspector-General of the Namibian Police (Nampol), the ministers of health and justice and the government itself.
The plaintiffs’ Advocate Amoomo in his arguments commends Judge Davis’s verdict in South Africa’s Prince vs Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development for competently addressing the tension between the courts on the one hand and the legislature and executive on the other.
Citing the Prince judgment, Advocate Amoomo mentions the right to traditional African spiritual practices, Rastafarian religious beliefs and more importantly, faults the criminalisation of private adult use. The privacy argument is intended to counter the purported harm defendants invoke in opposing decriminalisation.
This comes after the defendants argued the unripe doctrine early into the trial in July 2025. In a special plea, they argued the GUN case was a civil rather than a judicial matter, contendingNamibia’s Law Reform and Development Commission’s (LRDC’s) was already adjudicating the cannabis issue. The defendants notably also argued executive and legislature prerogative, citing policy concerns they say outweigh any constitutional rights arguments.
Namibian activists are hopeful of victory. Should Judge Claasen pronounce in their favour, Namibia will join southern Africa neighbours Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe which have already decriminalised cannabis on medicinal and industrial grounds.
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