18 years for young man who killed Ipula Akwenye

A JAM-PACKED public gallery in the largest courtroom available in the High Court in Windhoek on Friday witnessed the final act in one of Namibia’s most high-profile murder trials of the year so far, with the sentencing of Lungile Mawisa to 18 years’ imprisonment.

If he serves the full term of imprisonment that Judge Kato van Niekerk sentenced him to on Friday, 21-year-old Mawisa will have spent more than half his life locked up in jail by the time he is released from prison. Having already spent more than three years and seven months in custody, the heavy jail term may mean that Mawisa could in the end pay with more than 21 and a half years of his freedom for the murder that he committed at the age of 17 early in 2003.Mawisa was convicted of murder on Monday last week.The crime that he committed in the early morning hours of January 29 2003, only about two weeks before he was to turn 18, was “repulsive and abhorrent”, Judge Van Niekerk told Mawisa.The person he killed by beating her to death with a wooden pickaxe handle and also throwing three heavy rocks onto her head was a 17-year-old fellow student at Windhoek’s Delta Secondary School, Ipula Akwenye.At the time, she was about four and a half months pregnant with a child fathered by Mawisa.The murder itself and Akwenye’s funeral made headline news at the time.More than three years later, the crime still generates public interest, a public demonstration against violence against women and children that was staged outside the court before Mawisa’s sentencing showed.Inside the court, relatives and friends of Akwenye – including her mother, Elina Akwenye, dressed in black – made up a sizeable portion of people who thronged the public gallery.With all the seats in the gallery occupied, more people remained standing through the almost hour-long sentencing in order to witness the last chapter in Mawisa’s trial.In the dock, Mawisa, too, remained standing through the sentencing proceedings.He appeared as reserved, calm and collected – not showing any visible show of emotion – as he had seemed throughout the trial.He heard the Judge remark that she considered it aggravating that Akwenye had been killed in a “particularly violent and brutal” way, that she had been unarmed and defenceless at the time, and that Mawisa had killed not only her, but also the unborn life that was inside her.The fact that Akwenye was a young, defenceless, pregnant girl who was killed by the father of her unborn child at a time and place where she thought she would be safe in his presence was deplorable, Judge Van Niekerk said.The crime that Mawisa committed was “repulsive and abhorrent”.However, she added, the interests of society were not just served by imposing the longest possible prison sentences.These interests were also served by imposing a sentence that took into account all the relevant circumstances of the case.Except for the aggravating factors that she had taken into account, she also considered it to be a mitigating factor that the killing was not planned, but had been committed on the spur of the moment.According to what Mawisa told the court, the fatal attack took place when a midnight meeting between the two teenagers during which they discussed her pregnancy and the dilemma it posed, developed into an argument that spun out of control.At that time, according to Mawisa, he had felt pressurised by persistent efforts from Akwenye to persuade him to end a relationship he had with his then girlfriend and to instead enter into a relationship with her.”It seems to me that (Mawisa) was unable to cope maturely with the situation at hand,” the Judge commented.A mature person would have faced the situation of Akwenye’s pregnancy head-on, she said.Mawisa however seemed to have built up an image and vision of the situation that was larger than it was in reality, which he would have realised had he only stepped back a few paces and viewed the situation from a distance, she said.The end effect of all the forces at play was that Mawisa had reacted like a child and retaliated by starting to assault Akwenye when the argument started becoming insulting and physical, the Judge said.”It is clear that he acted in a situation where he was angry and insulted, slightly under the influence (of alcohol), and under stress,” she said.Mawisa did well at school, was of above average intelligence, and had ambitions to further his studies in a business field, she also noted.He seemed to come from a good and stable family, and his father, who testified during the trial, impressed her as appearing to be a decent person who had tried to teach his children – Mawisa is the middle of three children – the value of a good education.Taking all the relevant facts into account, the court’s sentence – although severe – should not break Mawisa, who was a young man with a prospect of rehabilitating himself, Judge Van Niekerk said.State advocate Sandra Miller represented the State during the trial.Jan Wessels of the law firm Stern & Barnard represented Mawisa.Having already spent more than three years and seven months in custody, the heavy jail term may mean that Mawisa could in the end pay with more than 21 and a half years of his freedom for the murder that he committed at the age of 17 early in 2003.Mawisa was convicted of murder on Monday last week.The crime that he committed in the early morning hours of January 29 2003, only about two weeks before he was to turn 18, was “repulsive and abhorrent”, Judge Van Niekerk told Mawisa.The person he killed by beating her to death with a wooden pickaxe handle and also throwing three heavy rocks onto her head was a 17-year-old fellow student at Windhoek’s Delta Secondary School, Ipula Akwenye.At the time, she was about four and a half months pregnant with a child fathered by Mawisa.The murder itself and Akwenye’s funeral made headline news at the time.More than three years later, the crime still generates public interest, a public demonstration against violence against women and children that was staged outside the court before Mawisa’s sentencing showed.Inside the court, relatives and friends of Akwenye – including her mother, Elina Akwenye, dressed in black – made up a sizeable portion of people who thronged the public gallery.With all the seats in the gallery occupied, more people remained standing through the almost hour-long sentencing in order to witness the last chapter in Mawisa’s trial.In the dock, Mawisa, too, remained standing through the sentencing proceedings.He appeared as reserved, calm and collected – not showing any visible show of emotion – as he had seemed throughout the trial.He heard the Judge remark that she considered it aggravating that Akwenye had been killed in a “particularly violent and brutal” way, that she had been unarmed and defenceless at the time, and that Mawisa had killed not only her, but also the unborn life that was inside her.The fact that Akwenye was a young, defenceless, pregnant girl who was killed by the father of her unborn child at a time and place where she thought she would be safe in his presence was deplorable, Judge Van Niekerk said.The crime that Mawisa committed was “repulsive and abhorrent”.However, she added, the interests of society were not just served by imposing the longest possible prison sentences.These interests were also served by imposing a sentence that took into account all the relevant circumstances of the case.Except for the aggravating factors that she had taken into account, she also considered it to be a mitigating factor that the killing was not planned, but had been committed on the spur of the moment.According to what Mawisa told the court, the fatal attack took place when a midnight meeting between the two teenagers during which they discussed her pregnancy and the dilemma it posed, developed into an argument that spun out of control.At that time, according to Mawisa, he had felt pressurised by persistent efforts from Akwenye to persuade him to end a relationship he had with his then girlfriend and to instead enter into a relationship with her.”It seems to me that (Mawisa) was unable to cope maturely with the situation at hand,” the Judge commented.A mature person would have faced the situation of Akwenye’s pregnancy head-on, she said.Mawisa however seemed to have built up an image and vision of the situation that was larger than it was in reality, which he would have realised had he only stepped back a few paces and viewed the situation from a distance, she said.The end effect of all the forces at play was that Mawisa had reacted like a child and retaliated by starting to assault Akwenye when the argument started becoming insulting and physical, the Judge said.”It is clear that he acted in a situation where he was angry and insulted, slightly under the influence (of alcohol), and under stress,” she said.Mawisa did well at school, was of above average intelligence, and had ambitions to further his studies in a business field, she also noted.He seemed to come from a good and stable family, and his father, who testified during the trial, impressed her as appearing to be a decent person who had tried to teach his children – Mawisa is the middle of three children – the value of a good education.Taking all the relevant facts into account, the court’s sentence – although severe – should not break Mawisa, who was a young man with a prospect of rehabilitating himself, Judge Van Niekerk said.State advocate Sandra Miller represented the State during the trial.Jan Wessels of the law firm Stern & Barnard represented Mawisa.