Kandara inquest recusal case set for end of April

THE High Court case which should determine whether the inquest into the death of the late Lazarus Kandara will continue before the same Magistrate who started hearing testimony in the matter two weeks ago is scheduled to be heard near the end of this month.

The case was filed with the High Court on Friday, and is set to be heard on April 28. The inquest into Kandara’s death – he died from a gunshot wound to the chest in front of the Windhoek Police station on the evening of August 24 – was stopped in its tracks last Monday when Magistrate Maria Mahalie, who has been conducting the inquest in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, was told that an urgent application would be launched in the High Court to ask for an order that she no longer preside over the inquest proceedings.That application has now been filed, and it gives notice that the court will be asked on April 28 to make an order that will, in effect, take Magistrate Mahalie off the inquest and direct that it should start from scratch again.Twelve witnesses had already testified by the time Magistrate Mahalie stopped the inquest last week to give the High Court a chance to hear and rule on the urgent application.The application is being brought by the former Commanding Officer of the Namibian Police’s Serious Crime Unit, Oscar Sheehama, and the three Police officers – Detective Sergeants Linekela Hilundwa and Frans (Jacky) Kantema, and Detective Constable Chaolin Tjitemisa – who escorted Kandara to his house in Windhoek and back to the Police Station before he was shot.The Police have treated Kandara’s death as a suicide, but the eventual outcome of the inquest is expected to indicate if available evidence supports that view.The purpose of the inquest is to determine what had been the cause of Kandara’s death and whether he himself or anyone else was responsible for his death.Lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing Sheehama and the three Police officers, asked Magistrate Mahalie to recuse herself on Monday last week.He based that request on the fact that his clients had received information that the Magistrate had attended Kandara’s funeral.The Magistrate confirmed that she had been at the funeral, but told Namandje that she was not related to Kandara, that she had no interest in the outcome of the inquest, and that she was committed to being fair in the way she was conducting the inquest.She turned down the bid for her recusal.In the High Court application, Sheehama repeats in an affidavit that because Magistrate Mahalie had attended the funeral, he and the three officers feared that she might not be impartial and might be disposed in favour of Kandara’s family and against him.He claimed the Magistrate had “clearly associated herself with the deceased’s family in their loss”.Magistrate Mahalie is the first respondent in the case that Sheehama, Hilundwa, Kantema and Tjitemisa have lodged.The second respondent is Christophine Kandara, the widow of the late Lazarus Kandara.The Magistrate and Mrs Kandara have been given time until April 10 to indicate whether they will oppose the application.If they do oppose it, they have to file affidavits in which they give their answer to the allegations made in affidavits from Sheehama, the three Police officers, and Namandje, by April 21.The inquest into Kandara’s death – he died from a gunshot wound to the chest in front of the Windhoek Police station on the evening of August 24 – was stopped in its tracks last Monday when Magistrate Maria Mahalie, who has been conducting the inquest in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, was told that an urgent application would be launched in the High Court to ask for an order that she no longer preside over the inquest proceedings.That application has now been filed, and it gives notice that the court will be asked on April 28 to make an order that will, in effect, take Magistrate Mahalie off the inquest and direct that it should start from scratch again.Twelve witnesses had already testified by the time Magistrate Mahalie stopped the inquest last week to give the High Court a chance to hear and rule on the urgent application. The application is being brought by the former Commanding Officer of the Namibian Police’s Serious Crime Unit, Oscar Sheehama, and the three Police officers – Detective Sergeants Linekela Hilundwa and Frans (Jacky) Kantema, and Detective Constable Chaolin Tjitemisa – who escorted Kandara to his house in Windhoek and back to the Police Station before he was shot.The Police have treated Kandara’s death as a suicide, but the eventual outcome of the inquest is expected to indicate if available evidence supports that view.The purpose of the inquest is to determine what had been the cause of Kandara’s death and whether he himself or anyone else was responsible for his death.Lawyer Sisa Namandje, who is representing Sheehama and the three Police officers, asked Magistrate Mahalie to recuse herself on Monday last week.He based that request on the fact that his clients had received information that the Magistrate had attended Kandara’s funeral.The Magistrate confirmed that she had been at the funeral, but told Namandje that she was not related to Kandara, that she had no interest in the outcome of the inquest, and that she was committed to being fair in the way she was conducting the inquest.She turned down the bid for her recusal.In the High Court application, Sheehama repeats in an affidavit that because Magistrate Mahalie had attended the funeral, he and the three officers feared that she might not be impartial and might be disposed in favour of Kandara’s family and against him.He claimed the Magistrate had “clearly associated herself with the deceased’s family in their loss”.Magistrate Mahalie is the first respondent in the case that Sheehama, Hilundwa, Kantema and Tjitemisa have lodged.The second respondent is Christophine Kandara, the widow of the late Lazarus Kandara.The Magistrate and Mrs Kandara have been given time until April 10 to indicate whether they will oppose the application.If they do oppose it, they have to file affidavits in which they give their answer to the allegations made in affidavits from Sheehama, the three Police officers, and Namandje, by April 21.