Windhoek
Judge Elton Hoff continued with his treason judgment yesterday when he declared that the State had succeeded in proving the charges against another five alleged secessionists, although its case against two of the accused was unsuccessful.
Judge Hoff made his ruling in the Windhoek High Court, where the 16-year-long treason trial is finally drawing to a close.
Kingsley Mwiya Musheba, who was arrested at the scene at Mpacha base after the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) repelled an attack at the army base, was found guilty according to the facts presented by the prosecution, Judge Hoff stated.
At Mpacha airport, where Musheba was arrested, three suspected secessionist rebels were killed when NDF soldiers returned fire after they came under attack with mortars and automatic rifle fire. According to evidence led, four of the suspected rebels were captured in the aftermath of the exchange, including Musheba who now faces the prospect of a conviction.
While Musheba tendered an alibi in his defence, by saying he was not at the scene, the judge rejected his testimony as false beyond reasonable doubt and found that he was one of those captured at the base. Thus, the State proved beyond reasonable doubt that Musheba is guilty of an overt act with hostile intent.
In the case of former policeman Richwell Mbala Manyemo the judge found there is doubt about the evidence against him and that he must be given the benefit of the doubt. Although the judge found that Manyemo was an evasive and argumentative witness and that his conduct was “pregnant with suspicion”, the evidence against him was not satisfactory in all respects.
He said a trip that Manyemo took to Denmark was shrouded in secrecy, but that the State could not prove the trip was to support the armed secessionist rebellion.
Rodwell Sikela Mwanabwe was one of those that were found to have been involved in the attacks at Katima Mulilo on August 2, 1999. Evidence was produced that the accused was covered in black markings and had a charm bracelet on his wrist at the time of his arrest.
While he denied that the markings and bracelet were the result of rituals he went through to make him invisible to the “enemy”, evidence was produced that he partook in the attacks. “The accused is an untruthful witness and I’m satisfied that he was one of the conspirators and participated in the attacks and had hostile intent,” the judge remarked.
Former teacher Kester Silemu Kabunga was also actively involved in transporting rebels to the targets, Judge Hoff said, as he recounted the evidence against Kabunga. While Kabunga claimed his vehicle was parked at his house in the hours before the attack, Judge Hoff found this false beyond reasonable doubt, as various witnesses testified that he had transported the rebels. This confirmed that he was guilty of an overt act against the State and had hostile intent, the judge remarked.
Fabian Thomas Simiyasa, a former handyman for the Ministry of Water and Forestry’s Rural Water Supply Directorate was found to have supported the rebels with food, water and transport. It came to light during the trial that he acted as a bodyguard to Mishake Muyongo when the latter fled to Botswana.
It emerged that Simiyasa used a government-owned TATA one-tonne truck to transport rebels during the night before the attacks. According to the judge, the accused – by his own admission – could have been the only one who drove the TATA truck and his testimony that he parked the truck at the office at 21h00 was false, as a security guard testified that he only arrived at the office at around 02h00 in the morning, shortly before the attacks started.
Judge Hoff said he is satisfied the evidence proved that Simiyasa supported the rebels by providing them with transport and food and that his conduct amounted to an overt act with hostile intention.
The evidence against Albert Sekeni Mangalazi proved beyond reasonable doubt he was one of the original 92 that fled to Botswana with Muyongo and Chief Bebi Mamilli, Judge Hoff found. He said the accused’s defense of a blanket denial of all allegations against him is a veiled defense, which could not be reasonably possibly true and thus had to be rejected.
The accused was an evasive witness, who denied everything, the judge said and added that the evidence against the accused proves beyond reasonable doubt the charges against him. Judge Hoff said he is satisfied that Mangalazi had hostile intent.
Despite the fact various witnesses testified that Oscar Kushalula Puteho instructed rebels in the use of 60mm and 80mm mortar pipes, the failure of the same witnesses to positively identify him in court cast doubt on their evidence, the judge said. He found that the State had failed to meet the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt on all the charges against him. Hoff, however, found that the State had proved the charges regarding contravention of the Immigration Act.
On Wednesday Judge Hoff said the State had proved beyond reasonable doubt all the charges against former DTA parliamentarian, Geoffrey Mwilima, the most prominent figure among the treason accused, thus paving the way for a possible conviction of high treason.