WINDHOEK – Windhoek High Court Judge Nate Ndauendapo on Friday again postponed the case of Johannes Lukuwa Hausiku who is charged with multiple counts of rape and one count of murder.

The accused is yet to be examined by a psychiatrist, three years after the state asked for a second round of mental observation after a state psychiatrist had found Hausiku not fit to stand trial.

Dr Hileni Ndjaba diagnosed Hausiku with schizophrenia comorbid with substance use disorders in November 2017 and declared him unfit to stand trial.

At the time Ndjaba said: “The accused is not fit to stand trial, he is incapable of understanding the court proceedings so as to make proper defence. At the time of the commission of the crime, in terms of Section 78 of the Criminal Procedure Act he was mentally ill which makes him incapable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act.”  

The state is disputing that finding and  asking the court to send Hausiku for another round of tests which are to involve two psychiatrists including one not in the fulltime employment of the state.

According to State Advocate Ethel Ndlovu, Hausiku was able to mount a defence when he testified during a trial-within-a-trial dealing with certain admissions and he can still mount a proper defence with the guidance of his state-funded legal counsel. 

Defence lawyer Hipura Ujaha took over the case after the accused’s legal counsel withdrew for being “unable to consult and draw up a proper defence”.

Before that Mbanga Siyomunji who appeared for Hausiku had lodged an application to have Hausiku observed mentally, but his application was dismissed causing him to withdraw as he could not “with a clear conscience continue to defend Hausiku who is chopping and changing his instructions at will”.
When Ujaha was appointed, he immediately applied to the court for Hausiku to be sent for mental observation as he was unable to consult and was receiving conflicting instructions.       

This time Judge Ndauendapo consented and Hausiku underwent psychiatric observation at the Windhoek Psychiatric Unit from 17 October 2016 to 14 November  2016 with the result that he was declared unfit to stand trial.

The state however did not accept the diagnosis and challenged the psychiatrist’s findings. During a subsequent trial-within-a-trial to determine the issue, it came to light that the occupational therapist was of the opinion that Hausiku was fit to stand trial and the state ran with that.

During his mental observation Hausiku told the psychiatrists that he was angry because his girlfriend/wife (the mother of the murdered child) was having an affair with another man. According to what he said, they both came from Kavango to Outjo as a couple, having two children, one being the deceased and he was aiming to stab Martha but ended up stabbing the boy because she held him as a shield. He took him to hospital but thereafter has no recollection of a body been cut and thrown away. 
He denied the rape cases and the rest of the allegations. 

Hausiku is on trial on 15 charges emanating from three incidents which took place at Outjo during the first half of 2012. He has denied guilt on all of the charges.

He is alleged to have kidnapped and raped a woman at Outjo in the Kunene Region on the night of 30 May 2012.

He then allegedly murdered the woman’s two-year-old son and hindered police investigations by telling her to report to the police that she had been attacked and her son was killed by four unknown men.
Hausiku is also alleged to have kidnapped, raped and robbed two other women in January 2012.
He is now represented by Theo Carollus after Ujaha was removed as legal counsel by the legal aid directorate. 

He remains in police custody at the Windhoek Central Correctional Facility, where he has been held since his arrest.