Court hears of heist car driver’s robbery history

MACDONALD Kambonde, the alleged inside connection of the gang of armed robbers that pulled off a N$5,3 million cash-in-transit heist near Windhoek in late 2000, was out on bail and awaiting trial on another robbery charge at the time of that highway heist.

Kambonde – 35 years old, married and the father of five children – reluctantly admitted this fact in the High Court on Friday, when he became the first of the seven men who were convicted on Thursday on a variety of charges in connection with the heist to give evidence in mitigation of sentence. Kambonde was the driver of the cash-transporting security company vehicle that was the target of a robber gang in the Brakwater area north of Windhoek in the early morning hours of November 17 2000.The gang forced the vehicle, which was transporting money to banks at Ondangwa, off the road and stole N$5,3 million that it was carrying.Of that money, which at the time was the largest amount of cash ever stolen in a single robbery in Namibia, some N$4,1 million has still not been recovered, and is probably likely to remain unaccounted for.On Thursday, Acting Judge Annel Silungwe convicted Kambonde on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances in connection with the heist.Kambonde had been an accomplice to that crime, he found.Kambonde told the court on Friday that he has been separated from his family for more than five years now, having been arrested and kept in custody since two days after the robbery.His father is now 93 years old, and he would like to be able to spend time with him and help bury him once he dies, Kambonde told the court.In the years since he has been locked up, he has started studying through an American Christian university, with a degree in theology his chosen course, he added.Only while being cross-examined by Deputy Prosecutor-General Danie Small, who has been leading the prosecution against the Brakwater heist suspects since their trial started in the High Court in October 2002, did another, less savoury, dimension of Kambonde’s past come to the fore.With a succession of questions, Small got Kambonde to confirm that he was convicted in the Windhoek Regional Court on October 9 2002 on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.That conviction was left standing when the High Court dismissed his appeal against the Regional Court Magistrate’s verdict.Kambonde was sentenced to an eleven-year jail term.That robbery was carried out at a farm some 40 kilometres south-west of Windhoek on July 20 1999.Kambonde was arrested the next day, after two firearms and cash that had been stolen during the incident had been found in his house.An eyewitness who had been at the farm during the robbery also identified Kambonde as one of the culprits.Kambonde told Acting Judge Silungwe that he was employed with a security services firm at the time of that robbery.After he was released on bail on that charge, he was employed by another security firm, which was where he was working when the November 17 2000 heist took place.The court on Friday also heard testimony from Immanuel Kaukungua, who had been among the 11 people originally charged in the High Court in connection with the heist.The prosecution against Kaukungua and another suspect was stopped in February 2003, when Small conceded that the State could not prove conclusively that large amounts of cash that they had paid into their bank accounts at Oranjemund in early 2001 had indeed been part of the stolen N$5,3 million as had been alleged.Kaukungua told the court that the bank account into which he had made a deposit of N$100 000 in February 2001 remained frozen.He asked Acting Judge Silungwe to order that the money in his account be returned to him.Acting Judge Silungwe is set to continue tomorrow with the hearing of evidence in mitigation of the sentences that he is to impose on the seven convicted men.Kambonde was the driver of the cash-transporting security company vehicle that was the target of a robber gang in the Brakwater area north of Windhoek in the early morning hours of November 17 2000.The gang forced the vehicle, which was transporting money to banks at Ondangwa, off the road and stole N$5,3 million that it was carrying.Of that money, which at the time was the largest amount of cash ever stolen in a single robbery in Namibia, some N$4,1 million has still not been recovered, and is probably likely to remain unaccounted for.On Thursday, Acting Judge Annel Silungwe convicted Kambonde on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances in connection with the heist.Kambonde had been an accomplice to that crime, he found.Kambonde told the court on Friday that he has been separated from his family for more than five years now, having been arrested and kept in custody since two days after the robbery.His father is now 93 years old, and he would like to be able to spend time with him and help bury him once he dies, Kambonde told the court.In the years since he has been locked up, he has started studying through an American Christian university, with a degree in theology his chosen course, he added.Only while being cross-examined by Deputy Prosecutor-General Danie Small, who has been leading the prosecution against the Brakwater heist suspects since their trial started in the High Court in October 2002, did another, less savoury, dimension of Kambonde’s past come to the fore.With a succession of questions, Small got Kambonde to confirm that he was convicted in the Windhoek Regional Court on October 9 2002 on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances.That conviction was left standing when the High Court dismissed his appeal against the Regional Court Magistrate’s verdict.Kambonde was sentenced to an eleven-year jail term.That robbery was carried out at a farm some 40 kilometres south-west of Windhoek on July 20 1999.Kambonde was arrested the next day, after two firearms and cash that had been stolen during the incident had been found in his house.An eyewitness who had been at the farm during the robbery also identified Kambonde as one of the culprits.Kambonde told Acting Judge Silungwe that he was employed with a security services firm at the time of that robbery.After he was released on bail on that charge, he was employed by another security firm, which was where he was working when the November 17 2000 heist took place.The court on Friday also heard testimony from Immanuel Kaukungua, who had been among the 11 people originally charged in the High Court in connection with the heist.The prosecution against Kaukungua and another suspect was stopped in February 2003, when Small conceded that the State could not prove conclusively that large amounts of cash that they had paid into their bank accounts at Oranjemund in early 2001 had indeed been part of the stolen N$5,3 million as had been alleged.Kaukungua told the court that the bank account into which he had made a deposit of N$100 000 in February 2001 remained frozen.He asked Acting Judge Silungwe to order that the money in his account be returned to him.Acting Judge Silungwe is set to continue tomorrow with the hearing of evidence in mitigation of the sentences that he is to impose on the seven convicted men.