A 39-year-old man, currently serving a 30-year sentence for assaulting his 19-year-old girlfriend to death with a palm tree branch in 2012, is suing the authorities for over N$750 000. 

Fabianus Shekunyenge is claiming N$752 000 for having been allegedly assaulted by correctional officers on 13 October last year.

In his suit against the safety and security ministry, head of prisons and five correctional officers, Shekunyenge claims that on the date in question, he was hit and punched by correctional officers while serving his time at the Hardap correctional facility. 

According to him, while he was asleep, correctional officers took him to an isolation cell, where he was further assaulted. 

He claims to have been humiliated after the officers shaved part of his head and thereafter failed to give him his hair. 

In addition, when they escorted him to the government attorneys’ office, they went through his documents that were meant for his lawyer only, which prohibited him from filing a lawsuit. 

He said the officers violated his dignity and subjected him to torture and punishment. 

“The defendant failed to establish that the plaintiff required humane treatment in a safe and secure environment with access to basic needs, social amenities and access to justice,” said Shekunyenge. 

He added as a result of the officer’s actions, he endured shock, pain, discomfort, humiliation and degradation – and he now has difficulty sleeping and concentrating, hence the claim of N$752 000 for the suffering he endured. 

In November 2015, Shekunyenge was found guilty of murder with direct intent for assaulting his girlfriend Rodnella Awises, with whom he has a four-year-old son. 

He assaulted her severely at the DRC settlement in Swakopmund in the early morning hours of 18 October 2012.

She, however, died on 2 November 2012 in transit to Windhoek due to blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen, and extensive trauma of soft tissue due to the assault, it is alleged. 

According to the post-mortem, she died as a result of a ruptured spleen. 

In his defence, Shekunyenge said he was defending himself after Awises allegedly tried to stab him when she returned from a hangout spot in the DRC location at midnight.

The State has indicated its intention to oppose the suit. 

The case will be in court today for case management before Judge Esi Schimming-Chase.

- mamakali@nepc.com.na