Iuze Mukube 

Acting regional magistrate Ingrid Unengu sent Abiatar Ismael Akawa to prison for 15 years on the charges of murder and discharging a firearm. 

The sentence was handed down at the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday. 

On the count of murder, Akawa (42) was sentenced to 20 years with five years conditionally suspended.On discharging a firearm, he got two years imprisonment, which will run concurrently with the sentence for murder. 

The murder occurred on 10 October 2020 at a bar in Greenwell Matongo in Windhoek, where he allegedly killed Benyameni Nampweya Amukoto by shooting him with a pistol. 

Akawa was also found guilty of wrongfully, unlawfully and intentionally discharging a firearm in a public place where members of the public were present near the bar. 

Court records show the murder was sparked by a dispute over stolen money, with Amukoto accusing Akawa of having stolen the money from his brother’s bar, where they all were in the early morning hours of 10 October 2020. 

Akawa allegedly received a phone call from Amukoto accusing him of stealing the money from the bar, and the two men agreed to meet over the matter. It is at this meeting that Amukoto was fatally shot in the abdomen. 

During the trial, Akawa pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The deceased’s brother referred to as Tolata testified that Akawa took money from the bar and insulted him, before agreeing to meet at the bar. 

He said after Akawa arrived at the bar, he had his hands behind his back, and he cocked the firearm and aimed it at Amukoto. 

Akawa fired the first shot and the bullet hit the deceased’s feet, and Amukoto challenged the accused to “just shoot”. A second shot followed, and the bullet hit him in the abdomen. 

Before he was shot, Amukoto only had a cigarette in his hand,which he tossed away. Tolata further claimed the two bullets went off in close succession. 

Akawa denied the accusations, claiming the brothers were armed with panga, and he fired the first shot as a warning, and the second shot was accidental as the gun went off as he was running away from Amukoto. 

The firearm was not found in the Goreangab Dam, where the accused claimed he had thrown it, and it was also found that no gun was registered under him. 

The prosecution, represented by Emma Mayavero, argued the accused had direct intention to murder Amukoto, who was unarmed and unsuspecting of the attack. 

She added that having executed his intentions, with Amukoto being struck by the bullet and falling to the ground, he turned to leave the scene. 

Counsel for the accused Eino Nangolo argued that the accused was under imminent unlawful attack by the deceased, and his life was in danger. 

The court dismissed Akawa’s self-defence claim since it was undeniable that Amukoto was hit in the abdomen by the second and fatal shot by the accused. 

The court found that the accused had a direct intention to kill Amukoto by shooting him in the most vulnerable part of his body. 

The discharge of a firearm count was not disputed, as he fired twice in a public place in the presence of members of the public. 

The court therefore concluded there was no justification for the accused’s actions – firing of the firearm twice. 

Accordingly, the court found the accused guilty of murder with direct intent, and discharge of the firearm in a public space. 

–mukubeiuze@gmail.com