Imbamba fined N$2 000 for assault

‘IT will seem okay now to assault a mayor and pay a small fine for it,’ said Günther Cramer, husband of Henties Bay mayor Gisela Cramer (66), after Henties Bay councillor Paulus Imbamba was fined N$2 000 yesterday for assaulting Mrs Cramer with a telephone in her office earlier this year.

Swakopmund Magistrate Bernhard Tjatjara said Imbamba was charged with common assault and therefore the court was reluctant to impose a prison sentence. However, the fact that he assaulted a distinguished member of society, who is also an elderly woman, aggravated the sentence.State Prosecutor Seredine Jacobs called for a fine of N$1 000, but Tjatjara said that the sentence needed to promote respect for the vulnerable and elderly, as well as within the workplace. Failure to pay the N$2 000 fine would have led to six months in jail.Tjatjara said the court had to consider the mitigating factors, like Imbamba being a sole breadwinner with a salary of N$1 300 (after deductions), supporting 12 dependents, including two children and his mother.The assault followed after Imbamba entered Cramer’s office requesting her to give him the keys of the official vehicle so someone could take him home. She apparently told him to call the relevant officials.This angered Imbamba, who pointed his finger to Cramer while speaking to her in Oshiwambo, and then hit her with the receiver. Her glasses were knocked off her face, and she suffered a bruised eye and hurt her shoulder when trying to avoid the blow.Cramer laid a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Imbamba was arrested, but soon released on bail of N$1 500.Defending himself, Imbamba told the court that Cramer had indeed told him to make the phone call, and while he was busy, she allegedly grabbed the phone cable and tried to pull the phone out of his hand. He said he pulled the phone back towards him, causing Cramer to lunge at him, and in an attempt to block her, the receiver hit her.Tjatjara agreed when passing judgement that the injuries were not grievous, and that Imbamba may not have intended to injure Cramer, but added the he still could not understand why Imbamba had to hit her.Tjtjara said Cramer was an outstanding witness, and that the court rejected Imbamba’s explanation as ‘improbable’.’Why would she tell you to make a call and then want to grab the phone from you. You could not even answer that when questioned. The court finds your explanation bereft of any truth and the court accepts Cramer’s explanation that you hit her,’ said Tjatjara.The court took into account that Imbamba was not a first-time offender. In 2008 he was found guilty of drunken driving, failure to ascertain injuries at an accident scene and driving without a driver’s licence related to an accident in Henties Bay in 2003. For this, he was fined N$6 600.

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