Frieda’s killer will never be found
‘Killed unlawfully, by unknown person’
Saturday will mark the second anniversary of the death of struggle kid Frieda Ndatipo, who was shot during a protest at the Swapo headquarters in Windhoek on 27 August 2014.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the police became villains, attracting outrage, while discussions on how law enforcement should deal with protesters dominated national conversations.
A High Court inquest found that Frieda was killed unlawfully by an unknown person.
Two years later, lawyers say the tragic incident offered important lessons on respect for human life and how protests should be controlled.
“One of the most pertinent lessons here is that life must be protected at all times. All Frieda Ndatipo and the struggle kids did at the time was to demonstrate and air their grievances. That right must be respected and this sort of thing of trying to disperse people who are demonstrating or picketing by using force is even more unconstitutional and unlawful.
“The one lesson to learn is that in a democracy, we have to allow people to air their complaints and grievances, and if it is in the form of demonstrations, that should also be allowed. Control of demonstrations should be done with absolute respect of the lives of those people,” human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe said yesterday.
Former SPYL secretary Elijah Ngurare said Ndatipo’s death would forever be a scar on the conscience of not only the person who pulled the trigger, but also all those who were complicit, directly and indirectly, in what he described as the “unforgiving cover-up surround her murder”.
“As I had said at Ehafo where we buried her two years ago, if she was a big name in society or if her parents were well known, the killer would have been found,” Ngurare said.
Expressing his condolences to Ndatipo’s children and family, Ngurare said he believed that one day the truth would come out.
Ndatipo was a 26-year-old mother of three. On that tragic morning, a scuffle broke out between the police and her group, the children of the liberation struggle or otherwise known as the struggle kids.
The protesters threw stones and the police retaliated with gunshots, with many journalists at the time believing that one of those shots fatally hit Ndatipo.
For many of the struggle kids, that fateful morning was reminiscent of Namibia’s brutal armed struggle for independence, an experience many of them had briefly lived.
Ndatipo was born in Lubango, Angola, on 19 February 1988 and was repatriated to Namibia the next year as part of the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435.
She was orphaned at a tender age and dropped out of school in grade nine. She had two brothers, one sister and three children, the youngest being 21 months old at the time of her death.
Shot by an unknown person
In August last year, the inquest into Ndatipo’s death held in the Windhoek High Court found that she was killed by a single gunshot fired from an unknown firearm.
Judge Christie Liebenberg said the person responsible for Ndatipo’s death could not be identified based on the evidence submitted during the inquest. He said her death was brought about by an unlawful act committed by an unknown person.
Judge Liebenberg said Ndatipo had covered some distance from where the fight broke out before being struck by the bullet.
He said evidence given by two independent witnesses showed that one or more unknown members of the struggle kids were seen in possession of firearms immediately before and during the incident.
The bullet that killed Ndatipo passed through her body and was not subsequently recovered; therefore the firearm from which it was fired could not be determined.
“In view thereof, the court found that the deceased was unlawfully killed by an unknown person,” Liebenberg concluded.
GORDON JOSEPH
In the aftermath of the shooting, the police became villains, attracting outrage, while discussions on how law enforcement should deal with protesters dominated national conversations.
A High Court inquest found that Frieda was killed unlawfully by an unknown person.
Two years later, lawyers say the tragic incident offered important lessons on respect for human life and how protests should be controlled.
“One of the most pertinent lessons here is that life must be protected at all times. All Frieda Ndatipo and the struggle kids did at the time was to demonstrate and air their grievances. That right must be respected and this sort of thing of trying to disperse people who are demonstrating or picketing by using force is even more unconstitutional and unlawful.
“The one lesson to learn is that in a democracy, we have to allow people to air their complaints and grievances, and if it is in the form of demonstrations, that should also be allowed. Control of demonstrations should be done with absolute respect of the lives of those people,” human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe said yesterday.
Former SPYL secretary Elijah Ngurare said Ndatipo’s death would forever be a scar on the conscience of not only the person who pulled the trigger, but also all those who were complicit, directly and indirectly, in what he described as the “unforgiving cover-up surround her murder”.
“As I had said at Ehafo where we buried her two years ago, if she was a big name in society or if her parents were well known, the killer would have been found,” Ngurare said.
Expressing his condolences to Ndatipo’s children and family, Ngurare said he believed that one day the truth would come out.
Ndatipo was a 26-year-old mother of three. On that tragic morning, a scuffle broke out between the police and her group, the children of the liberation struggle or otherwise known as the struggle kids.
The protesters threw stones and the police retaliated with gunshots, with many journalists at the time believing that one of those shots fatally hit Ndatipo.
For many of the struggle kids, that fateful morning was reminiscent of Namibia’s brutal armed struggle for independence, an experience many of them had briefly lived.
Ndatipo was born in Lubango, Angola, on 19 February 1988 and was repatriated to Namibia the next year as part of the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435.
She was orphaned at a tender age and dropped out of school in grade nine. She had two brothers, one sister and three children, the youngest being 21 months old at the time of her death.
Shot by an unknown person
In August last year, the inquest into Ndatipo’s death held in the Windhoek High Court found that she was killed by a single gunshot fired from an unknown firearm.
Judge Christie Liebenberg said the person responsible for Ndatipo’s death could not be identified based on the evidence submitted during the inquest. He said her death was brought about by an unlawful act committed by an unknown person.
Judge Liebenberg said Ndatipo had covered some distance from where the fight broke out before being struck by the bullet.
He said evidence given by two independent witnesses showed that one or more unknown members of the struggle kids were seen in possession of firearms immediately before and during the incident.
The bullet that killed Ndatipo passed through her body and was not subsequently recovered; therefore the firearm from which it was fired could not be determined.
“In view thereof, the court found that the deceased was unlawfully killed by an unknown person,” Liebenberg concluded.
GORDON JOSEPH
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