ELUNDA LONDJAMBA - Ndaelekwa Johannes, the mother of the 37-year-old woman who was allegedly brutally murdered by her boyfriend together with her minor daughter, says the events of early this week have left her “shattered and broken”.  

Johannes is struggling to come to terms with her daughter Ruth Ndapandula Immanuel and granddaughter Lovisa Kandume’s deaths.  The pair were allegedly stabbed to death by Simon Kandume, who is also the father of the two-year-old girl, at Okangwena in Ondangwa early on Sunday morning.  When New Era visited the family of the deceased at Elunda loNdjamba village in the Ohangwena region, Johannes said she does not ever want to see her daughter’s murderer, and warned him to stay far away from her. “What he did to me is incomprehensible,” the sobbing mother said.  

“He robbed me of my family… my heart. I don’t know what went through his mind to kill my children. I am shattered and broken. In fact, no better words can explain what I am going through right now.” 

Ndapandula, as she was known at home, was one of the six children of Johannes. It is alleged that Ndapandula and her daughter were stabbed multiple times while her third child survived the ordeal, and is currently being treated for injuries sustained during the attack in a local hospital.

Johannes said the last time she spoke to her daughter was around 18h00 on Saturday. “I spoke to her over the phone, and she was telling me how abusive her boyfriend was. After hanging up the call, I sent her a text message, warning her to leave the house and go to her sister. She refused and told me she is going nowhere, and if he wants to kill her, he must just kill her,” she recalls her last moments with her daughter. 

Johannes then called her other daughter, and informed her to call the police in a bid to get Kandume arrested. However, the fatal incident occurred just before the police could arrive at the scene. “The next thing I heard, my child and her daughter are no more, while my other grandchild was terribly injured,” she added. Johannes said Ndapandula was open to her about her relationship with Kandume, and told her many times that he abused her and attempted to kill her occasionally. 

It is said that the day before the incident, Kandume told the people in their area that he would kill his girlfriend with a knife. He also told the victim’s sister to visit their home, but she refused. Hours later, Kandume went back to the victim’s sister’s house, calling her to go and see what he had done to her relatives. Johannes added that she (Ndapandula) had gotten the suspect arrested four times after he brutally beat her. But after he would be released from custody, she kept going back to him. 

“I told her on many occasions to let go of that man because it was going to cost her her life. But she never listened, and I was right. Now look what happened,” she recalled. She furthermore described her daughter as “very quiet” and respectful. “Both my children and I are not working, neither do we have any source of income. But I could tell Ndapandula had potential, and I hoped that one day she would get a job and help us back home,” said Johannes sadly. She is thus pleading with the community to assist the family with the little they have. 

“We are a small, destitute family. As you can see (pointing around the ragged-looking house comprising four huts and two zinc rooms), we don’t have anything. I don’t know how I am going to take care of the children Ndapandula has left me with. The older one is in school, and the other one will start pre-school next year,” she narrated.  

Ohangwena governor Walde Ndevashiya, who also visited the family together with various local councillors, told the gathered mourners that cases of gender-based violence are on the rise in the region. “This incident came as a shock to all of us and it didn’t only affect the family, but the entire region as well. We have observed that domestic abuse and abuse against women are increasing. This is a serious concern, and we need to do introspection and fight this plague,”
he stressed. According to Namibian police reports, 2 643 GBV cases were recorded during 2020/21. Of these cases, over 600 GBV cases are from Ohangwena. Kandume is accused of double murder and attempted murder, and appeared in court on Tuesday. He was remanded in custody, and his case postponed to October this year.

- ashikololo@nepc.com.na