WINDHOEK – A man from Ndama location in the Rundu district, accused of hacking his elderly father to death with a panga and then burying the body, was convicted of murder with direct intent, read with the provisions of the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act and attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.

Oshakati High Court Judge Johanna Salionga found that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mukona Ambrosius Haingura hacked Mukonka Simon Mangundu to death on April 16, 2016 at the latter’s residence.

According to the facts of the case, the deceased was lying down in his room on the day in question and after his other son left the house, the accused came into the room armed with a panga and brutally hacked him several times on the head, neck, abdomen, arms and hand.

The deceased succumbed to the wounds and Haingura then removed the body from the room and buried it near the sewage dam, as well as hid the bloodied bedsheets and other items with the aim to defeat the course of justice.

He also turned over the bloody mattress with the same aim.
Haingura pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial and said in a plea explanation that he killed the deceased in self-defence and did not try to defeat the course of justice.

Judge Salionga said that the post-mortem report showed a monstrous, brutal and savage attack on the deceased as his face and neck were totally disfigured.

She further said that the accused’s version that he killed the deceased out of fear as the deceased on various occasions assaulted him and threatened to kill him, holds no water as there was no immediate danger to him.

“Even if the accused’s version is to be accepted that he felt threatened by the deceased’s utterances and whatever flashbacks he had about the previous assaults he might have received at the hands of the deceased, there can be no doubt that his action of resorting to using the panga and hacking the deceased several times was not only unnecessary but wholly disproportionate as well,” the judge said and continued: “Accused in this matter had ample time to reflect and desist from his unlawful and intentional thoughts, but instead he went to fetch a panga and proceeded to viciously and mercilessly hack his father.”

She further said that the most logical thing expected from someone to have done in his circumstances was to report the threats to the police, which he did not do.

“This court can in this regard come to no other conclusion that that the deceased at the time of the attack must have been sleeping and correctly said, unarmed,” the judge stated

She added that it appears the accused acted in revenge or retaliation to earlier grievances and that it is safe to conclude that there was no manifestation of imminent danger or attack and therefore the accused’s defence ought to be rejected not only as an afterthought, but as false beyond a reasonable doubt.
With regard to the charge of defeating the course of justice, the judge said only attempt was proven by the state and she convicted him accordingly.

The state was represented by Advocate Robert Shileka and Haingura by G Bondai.