Maria Amakali

Commissioner of refugees Likius Valombola will have to wait for three more weeks to hear the court’s ruling in his murder case. High Court Judge Claudia Claasen was initially scheduled to give the court’s ruling on Friday, but said it was not ready. 

Therefore, she postponed the case to 28 October for judgement. The 56-year-old Valombola was on trial on a count of murder and one for discharging a firearm in a public place. 

It is alleged by the State that Valombola shot student leader Helao Ndjaba (25) in the head in cold blood in Windhoek’s Ombili location on 18 May 2018. At the start of his trial in June, Valombola denied guilt on all counts.

During the trial, he admitted to having fired two warning shots, which could possibly have caused the death of Ndjaba. Valombola told the court that he fired two shots about 10 seconds apart when he was accosted by three people who were banging on his car door. 

At the time, he said, he was afraid for his life and the lives of his wife and son who were in the car with him. Although having fired the shots, he denied he had an intent to kill Ndjaba. Valombola’s version was corroborated by his wife Ndelitungapo Valombola and son Mathew Valombola during their testimonies. 

His lawyer Sisa Namandje submitted during arguments that Valombola should be acquitted of all charges. He claimed that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a bullet found in Ndjaba’s skull during the autopsy was fired from Valombola’s gun. According to the post-mortem, Ndjaba was shot twice in the forehead, with the entry wounds of the two gunshot injuries next to each other. The report stated that there was one exit gunshot wound in Ndjaba’s skull, and one bullet point was found in his skull as well.

The State, represented by Ethel Ndlovu, gunned for a conviction in the case. She argued that the evidence presented by the State is not so bad that it cannot sustain a verdict of guilty, and that the contradictions in the witnesses’ testimonies is not so material that it can be classified as unreliable.

-mamakali@nepc.com.na