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04:14Last update on: 12 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Mon 12 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-31
Supermarket robbery suspect convicted
Werner Menges
THE only man who stood trial in the Windhoek High Court in connection with an armed robbery, which a gang carried out at a Windhoek supermarket in October 2008, was found guilty on all charges yesterday.
Judge Nate Ndauendapo convicted Matheus Tjappa on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances, three counts of attempted murder, and charges of negligent discharge or handling of a firearm and possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence.
In his view the evidence against Tjappa was conclusive and overwhelming, Judge Ndauendapo said at the end of the judgement in which he found Tjappa guilty as charged.
Tjappa denied guilt on all of the charges.
The version of events, which he offered to the court in his defence was “simply incredible and stands to be rejected”, Judge Ndauendapo said.
Tjappa was prosecuted in connection with an armed robbery in which a gang of men stole about N$42 600 from the Khomasdal branch of the supermarket group Woermann Brock on the evening of 11 October 2008.
Two members of the gang fled from the scene in a car, leaving behind an accomplice who tried to make a getaway on foot, the court heard during the trial.
The suspect who fled on foot was carrying bank bags with him and fired shots at Windhoek City Police members who were chasing him. The suspect was shot in the foot when one of the police officers fired back at him, and then fled into a riverbed.
It was also testified that police officers later found Tjappa, with an apparent gunshot injury to his foot, trying to hide in a storm-water pipe in the riverbed.
After Tjappa had been pulled from the pipe, a revolver was found in the pipe, the court was told. That revolver had been stolen from a house in Olympia in Windhoek during a burglary, Judge Ndauendapo recounted in his judgement.
Witnesses also testified that when Tjappa was body-searched, money was found in the pockets of his clothing and also stuffed into his underpants.
Two bags containing a cash amount of N$20 663 were also found close to the spot where Tjappa was caught.
Tjappa testified he was innocently walking along a street when he encountered people who appeared to be threatening to him. He claimed he had a large sum of money with him, because he was planning to buy a car, and that he started to stuff some of this money into his underpants while retreating from the group of people who had started to throw stones at him.
He claimed he then sought refuge in the storm-water pipe, until police officers found him there.
Eyewitnesses who testified during the trial positively identified Tjappa as the person who entered the store that evening, held people at gunpoint, demanded money, and later walked out of the store with bags of cash, Judge Ndauendapo said. Some of those witnesses had a very close encounter with Tjappa, he noted.
While Tjappa claimed during the trial that the money found in his possession belonged to him, he did not inform the police about that, and actually agreed that the money could be returned to Woermann Brock, the judge also said.
Tjappa, who is being represented by defence lawyer Mbushandje Ntinda, now has to return to court on 7 August for the hearing of further evidence and arguments before his sentencing. He is being kept in custody.
State advocate Palmer Kumalo is prosecuting.
Judge Nate Ndauendapo convicted Matheus Tjappa on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances, three counts of attempted murder, and charges of negligent discharge or handling of a firearm and possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence.
In his view the evidence against Tjappa was conclusive and overwhelming, Judge Ndauendapo said at the end of the judgement in which he found Tjappa guilty as charged.
Tjappa denied guilt on all of the charges.
The version of events, which he offered to the court in his defence was “simply incredible and stands to be rejected”, Judge Ndauendapo said.
Tjappa was prosecuted in connection with an armed robbery in which a gang of men stole about N$42 600 from the Khomasdal branch of the supermarket group Woermann Brock on the evening of 11 October 2008.
Two members of the gang fled from the scene in a car, leaving behind an accomplice who tried to make a getaway on foot, the court heard during the trial.
The suspect who fled on foot was carrying bank bags with him and fired shots at Windhoek City Police members who were chasing him. The suspect was shot in the foot when one of the police officers fired back at him, and then fled into a riverbed.
It was also testified that police officers later found Tjappa, with an apparent gunshot injury to his foot, trying to hide in a storm-water pipe in the riverbed.
After Tjappa had been pulled from the pipe, a revolver was found in the pipe, the court was told. That revolver had been stolen from a house in Olympia in Windhoek during a burglary, Judge Ndauendapo recounted in his judgement.
Witnesses also testified that when Tjappa was body-searched, money was found in the pockets of his clothing and also stuffed into his underpants.
Two bags containing a cash amount of N$20 663 were also found close to the spot where Tjappa was caught.
Tjappa testified he was innocently walking along a street when he encountered people who appeared to be threatening to him. He claimed he had a large sum of money with him, because he was planning to buy a car, and that he started to stuff some of this money into his underpants while retreating from the group of people who had started to throw stones at him.
He claimed he then sought refuge in the storm-water pipe, until police officers found him there.
Eyewitnesses who testified during the trial positively identified Tjappa as the person who entered the store that evening, held people at gunpoint, demanded money, and later walked out of the store with bags of cash, Judge Ndauendapo said. Some of those witnesses had a very close encounter with Tjappa, he noted.
While Tjappa claimed during the trial that the money found in his possession belonged to him, he did not inform the police about that, and actually agreed that the money could be returned to Woermann Brock, the judge also said.
Tjappa, who is being represented by defence lawyer Mbushandje Ntinda, now has to return to court on 7 August for the hearing of further evidence and arguments before his sentencing. He is being kept in custody.
State advocate Palmer Kumalo is prosecuting.
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(August 12)
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