Likoro’s rape appeal dismissed

Former Swapo regional coordinator Vincent Likoro’s appeal against his rape conviction and 10-year imprisonment has been dismissed in the Windhoek High Court. Likoro had appealed the sentence imposed on him by the Katima Mulilo Regional Court on 21 January 2016. He claimed there was grave misdirection by the court at the time of the judgement and sentencing by Regional Court Magistrate Bongani Ndlovu. Likoro was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was accused of raping a female colleague while on official duty in the Zambezi Region. At the time, Likoro was an advisor in the lands and resettlement ministry. As a result of the dismissed appeal, High Court judges Dinah Usiku and Christie Liebenberg ordered the cancellation of Likoro’s bail with immediate effect to allow him to start serving his 10-year sentence.
FRED GOEIEMAN