ONGWEDIVA – Chickens have finally come home to roost after the Education Directorate in Erongo Region was compelled to investigate a case in which a fifth grader at !Oe#gab Primary School was allegedly assaulted by a teacher and had his arm fractured during the beating.
“Preliminary investigations into the matter are currently ongoing,” the Education Director in Erongo Jacqueline Rukamba said.
Rukamba could not comment on the possible punishment that the teacher could face once he is found guilty of the sustained beating.
The director said in such cases a misconduct charge is drawn up and once approved by the permanent secretary, a team is sent to the school for more investigations and possible sanction if the suspect is found guilty.
She said the findings from the investigation will then direct which punitive measures could possibly be meted out on the errant teacher.
Meanwhile, Rukamba said the region has been furnished with other reports related to the appalling incident by the school principal.
The 13-year-old Johannes Kakunde, the alleged victim, is currently in the north with his parents.
The parents of Kakunde have registered a case of assault with the police in Oshikango and it was expected to be transferred to Erongo Region where the crime was committed.
The Erongo Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Erastus Iikuyu, said he has not received the case yet.
According to the aunt Saima Hambuda’s version, 13-year-old Johannes Kakunde is alleged to have broken a window while playing with other learners in the dormitories.
The teacher allegedly in retaliation as punishment, asked Kakunde to remove his sweater and lie on the bed and then hit him with a sjambok.
When the assault initially started Kakunde wrestled free but the teacher with the assistance of the school cook pursued him.
“When they apparently caught him, the teacher kicked him by the ankles and he fell to the floor fracturing his arm,” the child’s aunt Saima Hambuda recounted.
Hambuda said the two left Kakunde crying in agony on the floor and left for their dormitories.
Another teacher, after Kakunde had cried for a while, came to inspect and assisted the boy without knowing what had transpired.
Kakunde was allegedly only taken to the hospital the next day in the afternoon.