Five years for causing friend’s death

Home Crime and Courts Five years for causing friend’s death

Maria Amakali

Windhoek-Twenty-one-year old Bonya Mutumburua – a Windhoek resident – who was found guilty of slashing his friend to death was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment when he took the stand in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura.

“I hereby sentence the accused to 10 years’ imprisonment of which five years are suspended for a period of five years on condition the accused is not convicted of murder committed during the period of suspension,” said magistrate Elina Nandago.

The court in August came to the conclusion that Mutumburua was guilty of murder for the death of his long-time friend Joseph Nashitope four years ago.

According to the court Mutumburua, although a mere teenager at the time, should have known that in stabbing someone with a knife there was the chance the someone might die. Mutumburua denied killing his friend intentionally, stating that he merely acted in self-defence. He testified he was attacked and assaulted by the deceased first.
“Even if the deceased assaulted the accused, the means of defence employed exceeded the limit of defence,” said Nandago.

According to court documents, on October 5, 2013 after an argument they had, Mutumburua intentionally stabbed his friend to death. According to the witnesses who took the stand during the two-year trial, Mutumburua and the deceased were involved in a fight on the day that Nashitope died.

Although the fight had stopped, Mutumburua saw it necessary to get a panga from his home which he later replaced with a knife.

The knife he used on his friend. After the stabbing, Mutumburua attempted to flee the scene but people who were standing nearby and witnessed everything managed to apprehend him. The police later arrived.

According to the post-mortem report Mutumburua was stabbed in the right side of the chest, which resulted in severe bleeding.