Selma Ikela
Windhoek-The mystery surrounding a road accident that killed two people between Windhoek and Okahandja on Saturday night was finally cracked with the arrest of prominent local boxer Wilberforce Shihepo.
The former WBO Africa middleweight champion, 34, appeared in the Okahandja Magistrate’s Court yesterday on five charges, including culpable homicide, following the fatal accident.
The accident happed around 20h20, about 30 km south of Okahandja, instantly killing the driver of a Toyota sedan Likius Petrus, 54, and six-year-old Toivo Linda Teopoline Nghipuyoonda.
Shihepo, affectionately called ‘Black Mamba’ in boxing circles, was allegedly driving an unregistered metallic grey Jaguar and fled the accident scene, resulting in a concerted police manhunt.
The boxer handed himself over to the Okahandja police yesterday morning and appeared in court later in the day.
Shihepo was denied bail and is remanded in custody. His next court appearance is on November 27, 2017.
The police said Shihepo’s Jaguar collided with the Toyota sedan from behind, causing a severe impact, which resulted in the death of the occupants in the sedan.
Shihepo faces five charges, namely culpable homicide, failure to ascertain the nature and extent of injuries sustained by a person after an accident, failure to render assistance to injured person(s) after an accident, failure to ascertain the extent of damage after an accident and operating an unroadworthy vehicle.
Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi stated that Shihepo is not a police officer, as was widely speculated. “We would like to clarify the allegations on social media claiming that the suspect is a police officer. This is devoid of any truth and thus tarnishing our image.”