Martin Endjala
Michael Amushelelo this morning confronted Khomas Regional Commander, Commissioner David Indongo and accused him of refusing to arrest the Inspector General, Joseph Shikongo for his involvement in a fatal accident last December, that led to the death of three people.
Shikongo was driving his private vehicle at the time of the crash, that led to the deaths of Sofia Ananias, Frans Ndengu and Stefanus Shahafinge. Although a case has been opened, the matter is currently in the hands of the Prosecutor General’s office to decide whether or not to prosecute and if so, on what charge.
Shikongo was shortly admitted to a northern hospital after the accident. The accident occurred on 30 December 2022, around 01h00 on the Oshikango-Ondangwa road near Indangungu village in the Oshana region.
A head-on collision occurred between a white Toyota Hilux double cab of Shikongo and a white Hyundai. The deceased persons died on the spot. Ironically, Amushelelo, himself was sentenced in 2015 on a culpable homicide and was released on bail, pending his appeal against the conviction. He, in 2010 allegedly caused an accident that led to the death of one person and left another person paralyzed. The latter, Joey Haufiku was 19 years old at the time. She said in a 2016 social media post that upon learning that she would no longer be able to walk, the thought of ending her life lingered in her mind. She however says she has made peace with her disability. The court found that Amushelelo was over-speeding and driving without a license.
“I was doing my first year at the college of education at the time, studying to be a teacher. I was a very outgoing girl ,that partied a lot and got along with everyone. I was a dancer. I danced for a lot of artists and whenever we had parties people loved seeing me dancing on the floor. Having my doctor say I was not gonna walk again tore me apart,” Haufiku said.
Amushelelo was subsequently granted N$ 15 000 bail, while waiting for the outcome of his two-year sentence appeal in the high court. In a video posted on social media, Amushelelo labeled Shikongo a killer and accuses Indongo of refusing to arrest his boss.
In the video circulating on social media, Amushelelo is heard shouting at police officers as corrupt and thieves, although he himself, a self-proclaimed Forex Trader faces 365 charges pertaining to fraud. He is being tried in the Windhoek High court alongside his business partner Gregory Cloete.
Amushelelo, at the Windhoek Police station said he wanted to open a case of obstruction of justice and or trying to defeat the course of Justice against Shikongo, who he alleges removed a vehicle from an accident scene.
Shikongo is being investigated for alleged culpable homicide, reckless driving and negligent driving.
“The police are obviously covering each other, it’s an old standard practice in the police. One of the police juniors tried to grab my phone to delete this video. It’s now up to the police if Shikongo is not arrested by today, kindly be informed that from today onwards Namibia no longer has laws”, these were Amusheleo’s remarks during his live social media address earlier today in the morning while at the police station in Windhoek.
The activist further alleged that police officers loyal to Shikongo are now busy advancing their plans to have him killed simply because he is demanding justice for the three people who died.
“The families of Sofia Natangwe Ananias, Fransa Pombili Ndengu and Stefanus Hafeni Shahafinge deserve justice, their family members meant something to our society”, he stressed. “If I have to be arrested, let that be determined by the law, and not by Amushelelo or anybody else, I am not immune to arrest. Nobody in Namibia is judged by public opinion,” said the IG in an interview with a local newspaper.
Investigations are said to be ongoing according to Deputy Inspector Major General Elias Mutota in a recent media statement, with a team said to have been selected to spearhead the investigations.
Efforts to get more information on the matter to the Nampol deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi proved fruitless while the prosecutor General could not comment on the matter due to a meeting she was attending, “I am currently in a meeting”, was her response.
