Cop jailed for 20 years for killing teacher wife

A SHOOTING incident that claimed the life of his school principal wife at Rundu about a year and a half ago left Police officer Gerald Kashamba with a murder conviction and 20-year prison term at the end of his trial in the High Court at Oshakati last week.

Kashamba, a Warrant Officer in the Namibian Police who at the age of 51 now has a first criminal conviction on his record, was sentenced by Acting Judge Christie Liebenberg in the High Court at Oshakati on Wednesday last week. He had been convicted on a charge of murder the previous Friday.Kashamba was charged with murder after his wife, Rundu school principal Laurentia Kashamba (49), died after she was shot in her chest in the Kashamba couple’s home at Rundu during the early morning hours of September 8 2007.Kashamba claimed the shooting was an accident that happened while he was trying to wrestle a 9 mm pistol out of his wife’s hands. He claimed she was threatening him with the gun after he had arrived home after midnight.Only at the start of his trial on February 23 did Kashamba, in a plea explanation, for the first time also claim that his wife had actually been struck by a bullet that had ricocheted off a wall in the couple’s bedroom.A ballistics expert who examined a bullet point that was found at the scene of the shooting however found no marks on the projectile to indicate that it had ricocheted off a wall.No ricochet marks were found on the walls of the room where the shooting took place either.According to Kashamba’s explanation to the court, he was standing next to his wife, on her right side, trying to wrestle the pistol out of her right hand, when the fatal shot went off accidentally. Laurentia Kashamba was however struck under her left armpit, with the bullet passing through her chest and exiting through her right upper arm.The first explanation that Kashamba gave to fellow Police officers, after he had received medical treatment for shock, was that he and his wife had a quarrel, that he did not know how he got hold of the firearm, and that a shot went off the next moment. He wanted to scare his wife, he also said to two Police officers at the Rundu Police Station, according to testimony heard during the trial.A niece of Mrs Kashamba was at the house when the shooting happened. She told Acting Judge Liebenberg that after Kashamba had gone to his and his wife’s bedroom following his return home, she heard him sounding angry when he asked his wife about the food they had for dinner. She did not hear the couple quarrelling, though, the court was told.Kashamba claimed his wife had been in possession of the pistol with which she was shot since March 2000. Two of Mrs Kashamba’s cousins and her younger sister – all claiming to have had a close relationship with her – however testified that they had never seen her with a firearm.Acting Judge Liebenberg found that Mrs Kashamba could not have been struck by a bullet in the way that Kashamba claimed the incident had happened. He concluded that Kashamba’s evidence on the incident was not only improbable, but false beyond reasonable doubt.Kashamba was convicted of murder without a direct intent to kill.During the trial Acting Judge Liebenberg was also told that Kashamba had fired a shot in the couple’s house on two previous occasions when he and his wife were having an argument.He commented during the sentencing on Wednesday: ‘(Kashamba), being a Police officer with the rank of Warrant Officer and a well respected member of the police force, was not only under a duty to uphold the law and generally protect members of society, but these principles also applied to himself within the context of his own family. He clearly not only betrayed his family but also the community, especially his superiors who held him in high esteem and could not believe that (he) would commit such crime.’Acting Judge Liebenberg also remarked: ‘He clearly showed no respect for the law within the parameters of his own home which, sadly, was the place where his family could feel safe and enjoy family life.’He said in his view the circumstances of Mrs Kashamba’s death show the extent of the violence and abuse perpetrated against women and children within family structures in Namibia. He added that this is something ‘which, I am ashamed to say, we have now become accustomed to’.Given the gravity of the crime and the circumstances under which the murder was committed, a long prison sentence was called for, Acting Judge Liebenberg commented.Kashamba was in custody for a year and seven months before he was sentenced.Defence lawyer Slysken Makando represented him during the trial. State advocate Ruben Shileka prosecuted.