‘I did not snitch on Nchindo brothers’

Cassius Mwala-Mwala cracks jokes with bystanders seemingly without a care in the world as he loads passengers travelling from Kasane on the Botswana border across the Chobe River to Impalila Island, but over his head hangs a terrible, dark cloud.He is suspected of having ‘snitched’ on his cousins, Tommy Nchindo, Simvula Munyeme and Ernest Wamunyima Nchindo, the slain Namibian fishermen who died at the hands of Botswana Defence Force soldiers who accused them of poaching.Mwala-Mwala - who reported the shooting incident with the Namibian Police at Impalila Island the next day, said his life has become a nightmare since that fateful morning and he often wonders if he made a mistake to report the shootings.“I really fear for my life because some idiots and morons said it is me and I am no longer interested in speaking to the Namibian media because they always twist the story.“I also miss them, we could be enjoying life now. They were gardening if they were not fishing. I don’t know how it happened and I hoped their instincts would tell them not to go there that day,” he said.He is now widely known as ‘the spy’, but said the real spy lives at Impalila Island and works as tour guide at Kasane.“But now people are asking me how I knew about the shooting. He [the spy] spoiled my name and now people are sending me messages on groups and directly. Even my family lives in fear because they don’t know when someone will come to my house to burn us at night.“I sometimes wonder if it was a mistake to inform the authorities,” he said.Wasn’t himGeorge Nchindo, the brother of the deceased fishermen, said his family knows who the spy is and that they never suspected Mwala-Mwala because he was on Kasika Island that fateful day.“I have heard that people are accusing him, but people are misled. The person who betrayed our brother was interviewed by NBC when we were in mourning and he admitted that he was alone on the island with our brothers and he was the one who prepared the nets for fishing before they went.“Cassius was on the other side of Kasika and was just nearby. From the family&#039;s side, we don’t think it is Cassius. We know the spy is a tour guide who was employed in Botswana even before my brothers were killed.“Cassius has a boat, but he was never employed in Botswana,” the brother said.&#039;We&#039;re not okay&#039;Meanwhile, Nchindo called upon government to assist the children and wives of the deceased fishermen, who have now been plunged into untold poverty since their grandmother - who was supposed to be the family’s pillar - died shortly after the fishermen’s deaths.“Our family is not okay. We are really struggling with those children since their fathers were the only breadwinners. Their lives have been turned upside down and now they are scattered across the community.“They are as young as two and no one in their families is employed. Even the government grant of N$250 is not enough as maize meal costs N$240 in Katima Mulilo, so it cannot buy many things.”jemima@namibiansun.com

‘I did not snitch on Nchindo brothers’

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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‘I did not snitch on Nchindo brothers’

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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