By: Kelvin Chiringa/Ludorf Iyambo
The latest inquest judgment into the brutal gunning down of the Nchindo brothers along the Chobe river has been met with outrage from a majority of Namibians, with the Namibian Lives Matter (NLM) now bracing to take the matter to the United Nations (UN).
Batswana presiding officer, Taboka Mopipi, has ruled that the three Namibians, Tommy, Wamunyima, Martin and their cousin Munyeme, fired first at the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) members who reacted in self-defence, killing them in the process.
Speaking soon after the handing down of the judgment at Kasane in Botswana, NLM’s leader, Sinvula Mudabeti, decried that there has been a miscarriage of justice.
“Firstly, this is a clear sign that this is a miscarriage of justice. Botswana has a Kangaroo system of justice. It is a country with no respect even for its constitution and has no respect for the value and virtues of SADC. It has no respect for the African Union (AU) and the international community.
“This judgment shows that Botswana is a country whose system is one of manipulation that does not respect the separation of powers. The Botswana defence force, the police service, the justice system, magistrates, politicians, teachers, and nurses are all being managed by a political system that literarily is equivalent to that of monkeys,” he said.
Mudabeti now seeks to be handed over a record of the inquest and accompanying documents to take the matter to another level in the quest for justice.
He says they are bracing to meet up with their lawyers to prepare heads of arguments for the SADC tribunal.
“We will also send such information to the AU and ultimately to the Un that we may ask the international world to look at a very simple matter that Botswana has failed to manage,” he said.
Mudabeti, who has led his NLM in a demonstration against Botswana President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi when he visited Namibia, has also said there is anger in Namibia.
He also said it was ironic that the four should be accused of firing at the BDF when no gun and cartridges were ever discovered on the crime scene.
Namibia Lives Matter movement executive member Charles Siyauya, who witnessed the incident, said the verdict was bitter.
He said this was the first time that an inquest into the killings of Namibians by BDF soldiers had been conducted in Botswana.
He also questioned how magistrate Mopipi concluded that the Nchindo brothers and their cousin fired at the BDF soldiers first as the alleged gun has never been discovered.
“According to his findings, he says that there was no extensive search for the gun and if there was an extensive search for the gun, they could have found it, or he could have properly applied his mind. But for now, he found that the search was 80% complete. 20% gave room for him not to apply his mind completely. It’s unfortunate. But the Namibian police have testified that Botswana side asked to stop the search for the gun because they saw hippos.”
In the meantime, the movement has contended that the inquest’s outcome immediately became questionable when Namibian authorities yielded to the Batswana argument that the shooting happened on Botswana soil.