Gunslinger cop sentenced to 17-year term for murder

A MEMBER of the Namibian Police’s Special Field Force who shot and killed a Zambian national during a supposed search for illegal immigrants in the Caprivi Region in mid-2004 was convicted of murder and sentenced to a 17-year prison term on Friday.

SFF member Mophat Masiye Muyandulwa (42) was prosecuted on a charge of murder following the shooting that claimed the life of Zambian national Francis Sikwai Musanza (30) in the Caprivi Region’s Nsundwa area southeast of Schuckmannsburg on July 13 2004. Muyandulwa pleaded not guilty to the charge, but on Friday, Magistrate Bongani Ndlovu convicted him in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court of murder with a direct intention to kill.Muyandulwa was part of a group of four Police members that followed up information about the presence of alleged illegal immigrants in the Nsundwa area on the day of the incident.At the place where the shooting was to take place, Muyandulwa and his colleagues found 19 people gathered around a fire, the court heard during the trial.According to the testimony heard by the Magistrate, Muyandulwa shouted at the people at the fire to sit or lie down, but some of them told the court that they could not hear what he was shouting.Musanza did not carry out Muyandulwa’s instructions, and Muyandulwa then fired some shots.Muyandulwa said he fired four shots into the air.One of these hit Musanza and killed him.He had been unarmed.He was in a party of fishermen who were fishing in the area.Most of the 19 people at the fire were Namibians.Written on a sling attached to the Police gun with which Muyandulwa fired the fatal shot were the words: ‘Mr + Professional killer in Namibia’.Muyandulwa’s trial started in July last year.Public Prosecutor Pieter Smit represented the State during the trial.Defence lawyer Titus Mbaeva represented Muyandulwa.Muyandulwa pleaded not guilty to the charge, but on Friday, Magistrate Bongani Ndlovu convicted him in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court of murder with a direct intention to kill.Muyandulwa was part of a group of four Police members that followed up information about the presence of alleged illegal immigrants in the Nsundwa area on the day of the incident.At the place where the shooting was to take place, Muyandulwa and his colleagues found 19 people gathered around a fire, the court heard during the trial.According to the testimony heard by the Magistrate, Muyandulwa shouted at the people at the fire to sit or lie down, but some of them told the court that they could not hear what he was shouting.Musanza did not carry out Muyandulwa’s instructions, and Muyandulwa then fired some shots.Muyandulwa said he fired four shots into the air.One of these hit Musanza and killed him.He had been unarmed.He was in a party of fishermen who were fishing in the area.Most of the 19 people at the fire were Namibians.Written on a sling attached to the Police gun with which Muyandulwa fired the fatal shot were the words: ‘Mr + Professional killer in Namibia’.Muyandulwa’s trial started in July last year.Public Prosecutor Pieter Smit represented the State during the trial.Defence lawyer Titus Mbaeva represented Muyandulwa.