Bakondja wants bail

AFTER spending almost all of the past eight and a half years in prison, Namibia’s former most wanted fugitive, Bakondja Katjiuongua, will hear on Friday if he will be allowed to taste freedom again while waiting to go on trial for a second time on a host of escape, armed robbery, attempted murder and kidnapping charges.

In late 2000, the then 21-year-old Katjiuongua was arrested on fraud, theft and forgery charges. These charges, of which most originated from the theft of cheques that had belonged to political parties led by Katjiuongua’s father, former National Assembly member Moses Katjiuongua, finally saw Katjiuongua sentenced to an effective four years’ imprisonment on May 2 2006.Having received a remission on that sentence, Katjiuongua has by now served his jail term.He has in the meantime turned 30 years of age, while remaining in prison on 17 charges he accumulated when he escaped from custody in September 2000, again in October 2000, and for a third time on March 1 2001. After the third escape, he allegedly committed a string of armed robberies in which taxi drivers were mostly the victims who ended up being robbed and kidnapped at gunpoint as Katjiuongua evaded the Police for more than three months.Katjiuongua went on trial on those charges in the Windhoek Regional Court in October 2004. After the prosecution had presented its evidence to the court, a series of postponements followed, until presiding Magistrate Gert Retief retired and Katjiuongua was informed in June last year that this meant his trial would have to start from scratch before another Magistrate.With chances of getting his retrial started this year still appearing slim, Katjiuongua has asked Windhoek Regional Court Magistrate Sarel Jacobs to grant him bail.His latest defence lawyer, André Louw, reminded the Magistrate on Friday that Katjiuongua has told the court that over the past almost nine years he has been in custody he has realised the mistakes he made as a young man. If he is released on bail, he already has an employment offer that he could take up, and he would be staying with his parents in Windhoek until his pending trial had been finalised, Louw told the court.Even if Katjiuongua ends up being convicted on all the charges he still faces, Louw said, he does not think the sentence that his client will receive would be so severe that he would have anything to fear that could encourage him to flee while free on bail.Public Prosecutor Simba Nduna opposed the bail application. He told the Magistrate that Katjiuongua still faced 17 serious charges. He said an impression should not be created that the prosecution was to blame for the fact that his trial had not been finalised, or for the fact that he has spent almost all of the past decade in prison. He was not only waiting for his trial on the escape, robbery and other charges to be dealt with, but has been serving the jail term that he received in his fraud trial, Nduna said.In view of the seriousness of the charges, there was more of an incentive for him to abscond than to still stand trial if released, Nduna argued.Magistrate Jacobs is scheduled to give his ruling on Friday.