Mum asks for new police team in missing son probe

A father of two has remained missing for four months after a hunting trip in the Ovitoto area, with his mother calling for a new police team over what she says are communication failures and a possible conflict of interest.

The two men last seen with 36-year-old Siegfried Muyanga in early April told police they left him behind after he became severely exhausted during the hunt.

The men claimed they had slaughtered two warthogs before heavy rain disrupted their return home.

Now, the missing man's mother, Frieda Muyanga, has asked the Otjozondjupa police command to replace the team handling her son's case, citing concerns over communication, progress, and what she believes could be a conflict of interest.

According to his mother, Siegfried was invited to go hunting at around 15:00 on 8 April and left home shortly before 16:00, though, in her account, he had initially seemed hesitant to join the trip.

A police progress report shared with Namibian Sun states that Siegfried went with a friend and a third man.

Police said witnesses reported that after the hunt, Siegfried complained of severe fatigue, prompting the men to make a fire and roast meat to help him regain his energy, after which his two companions told police they decided to continue ahead without him to arrange transport to Okahandja.

One of the men subsequently returned alone, telling police and Siegfried's mother he believed the missing man would eventually make his own way home because he knew the area.

Muyanga told Namibian Sun the friend arrived at the family home at around 06:02 the following morning without her son and allegedly told her that Siegfried was nearby and would return shortly.

She went looking for him and attempted to call him without success, she recounted.

She told Namibian Sun that when she returned home, she found his cellphone and torch there.

According to the police report, the friend told investigators that he had taken Siegfried's cellphone and torch and placed them in a plastic bag to protect them from the rain and that Siegfried's bag was being used to carry meat.

The information available to Namibian Sun does not establish when the cellphone and torch were subsequently brought to the family home.

Namibian Sun also identified a discrepancy in the dates and times recorded around the disappearance. The police progress report states that Siegfried's disappearance occurred on 7 April, whereas Muyanga says he left home in the afternoon on 8 April.

Police records also indicate the disappearance was formally reported on 8 April at around 11:00, several hours before the time Muyanga says her son left home.

Family frustrated

Months after her son's disappearance, Muyanga formally escalated her concerns in a letter dated 24 July to Police Chief Commissioner Philip Hidengwa at Otjiwarongo Police headquarters. She asked that the team assigned to her son's search be replaced, citing what she described as inadequate communication and a lack of progress.

She also alleges that one of the officers is a brother-in-law of one of the men who was with Siegfried during the hunting trip, a relationship she believes could constitute a conflict of interest.

Namibian Sun was not able to independently verify the alleged family relationship, and no evidence was presented to establish that the investigation has been affected by any such relationship.

"It has been four months now since [my son] is missing… and nothing has been done," Muyanga wrote.

Contacted to comment on the mother's concerns, Hidengwa questioned the relevance of the alleged relationship and rejected suggestions that police had failed to search adequately for Siegfried.

“Whether the two people are related or not, what does that have to do with a missing person's case? What is the issue?” he told Namibian Sun.

“A search was done; it was done, that search even took long," he added.

According to a police progress report seen by Namibian Sun, ground searches were conducted continuously from 8 April until 1 May, involving police, members of the regional council, Ovitoto traditional leaders and community members across several farms and surrounding areas.

Police say heavy rainfall destroyed tracks and dense vegetation restricted visibility, prompting a request for police air support on 10 April.

Although the primary ground search ended on 1 May without finding Siegfried, police say targeted intelligence gathering and follow-up searches continued, with locals in the surrounding area placed on alert.

"No evidence of foul play has been established to date," the police progress report states.

Hidengwa also disputed Muyanga's complaint about a lack of communication, saying police had updated her and that she had visited his office as recently as the previous week.

Police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi said the search was continuing and cautioned against treating the disappearance as a murder case.

"The murder case she wants the police to open is impossible, because what if the person is alive? Only until remains are found can an investigation be launched," Shikwambi said.

Months of questions

Muyanga says her son’s disappearance has taken a heavy toll on the family.

She described Siegfried as a quiet man who keeps to himself. She said he loves dogs, sews clothes with his mother and helps support his two sons, aged eight and 14.

“He is my right-hand man, my pillar of strength,” she said. She said he also helped her when her old-age grant ran out and built much of the family home.

The house remains eerily quiet without her son, she told Namibian Sun. But the uncertainty is not new to the family.

Muyanga said another of her children died years ago at the age of five after allegedly being pushed into a dam.

She alleged that the circumstances surrounding that death also remain unresolved.