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Home / Ndatipo hearing begins in High Court this month
Ndatipo hearing begins in High Court this month
2015-05-20Staff Report 2 The hearing of the late ‘struggle kid’ Frieda Ndatipo, 26, will commence in the High Court in Windhoek later this month. This week, the Registrar of the High Court started running advertisements in local newspapers, notifying family members of the late Ndatipo of the date of the inquest. The advertisements further stated that the family members have a right to be represented by a legal representative and if they cannot afford one they can apply for a government-funded lawyer through the Legal Aid Directorate. Early this month, Titus Ipumbu - the lawyer representing the family of Ndatipo - said he is yet to receive the prosecutor general’s report, which indicates that no one could be prosecuted for the death of Ndatipo, as was said by the Minister of Justice Dr Albert Kawana in parliament late last month. Ndatipo was shot dead last year near the Swapo Party headquarters in Windhoek, during clashes between the police and alleged children of fallen independence fighters. Two police officers were injured during the clashes. The children of the liberation struggle were demonstrating for jobs. Late last month, Kawana - who was the attorney general when Ndatipo was killed - announced in the National Assembly that the Prosecutor General, Martha Imalwa, had declined to prosecute anyone in the death of Ndatipo. Ipumbu previously informed New Era that the report should have been sent directly to the prosecutor general from the ombudsman, instead of first sending it to the attorney general, who is a political appointee. The report only reached Imalwa after it had already been to the attorney general’s office, the lawyer said. Kawana had told parliament that due to the public interest and debate generated after Ndatipo’s death, he decided to use his constitutional power as minister to invoke the provisions of Section 7(3) of the Inquest Act, 1993 (Act No. 6 of 1993) to request the deputy chief justice to designate a judge of the High Court to hold an inquest. Judge President Petrus Damaseb has designated Judge Christi Liebenberg to conduct the inquest. Police have denied killing Ndatipo. Last year, Namibian Police Force Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, the head of the Police Public Relations Division, informed New Era that “at this point of the investigation, we haven’t obtained any evidence that points to the fact that it was a policewoman or policeman implicated in the fatal shooting”. 2015-05-20Staff Report 2
