Minister’s son held for death

THE son of Trade Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko, Ngatangwe Ngatjizeko Ipinge, is set to go to court tomorrow to answer for his mother’s murder.

A day after the death of 58-year old Fenny Ipinge on Sunday, her 27-year old son was found at Windhoek’s Babylon informal settlement by police investigating the woman’s killing. When police captured the young man at around 17h00 on Monday his hands were severely injured – what police suspect is a result of stabbings and boiling water burns.Contradictory versions abound as to where exactly he was apprehended, with some police sources saying he was caught at a shebeen, while others argue that he was arrested while seeking help from a clinic.But after his arrest, he was immediately admitted to the Windhoek State hospital for treatment.The Senior Medical Superintendent for the State hospital, Dr Helen Nkandi-Shiimi said yesterday that the young Ipinge was in a stable condition, but that nerves in his left hand especially had been damaged, and both his hands were in bandages.He is currently under police guard in the hospital.The Commanding Officer for the Namibian Police’s Public Relations department, Chief Inspector Hieronymous Goraseb, said yesterday that Ipinge would most likely be released from the hospital tomorrow morning.He would then make his first court appearance on a charge of allegedly murdering his mother, who was the Personal Assistant of former First Lady, Kovambo Nujoma, from 1992 to 2004.Ipinge retired in that year due to medical complications arising from a hip transplant.On the day of the murder, a next-door neighbour apparently heard the pensioner scream for help from her home in Windhoek’s Shandumbala location.Moments later, the neighbour reported, he saw her son leave the house through the back door and walk past his house.Ipinge had apparently greeted him while walking past, but because of the young man’s demeanour and the sudden silence at the house after his departure, the neighbour said he grew suspicious.After finding the house locked, the man, now accompanied by other community members, summoned the police.Police broke open the door, and found the elderly Ipinge lying motionless and in a pool of blood on her living room floor.Her son had by then disappeared, and police finally caught up with him on Monday afternoon as family and friends had begun to gather at his mother’s house for a memorial service.When police captured the young man at around 17h00 on Monday his hands were severely injured – what police suspect is a result of stabbings and boiling water burns.Contradictory versions abound as to where exactly he was apprehended, with some police sources saying he was caught at a shebeen, while others argue that he was arrested while seeking help from a clinic.But after his arrest, he was immediately admitted to the Windhoek State hospital for treatment. The Senior Medical Superintendent for the State hospital, Dr Helen Nkandi-Shiimi said yesterday that the young Ipinge was in a stable condition, but that nerves in his left hand especially had been damaged, and both his hands were in bandages.He is currently under police guard in the hospital. The Commanding Officer for the Namibian Police’s Public Relations department, Chief Inspector Hieronymous Goraseb, said yesterday that Ipinge would most likely be released from the hospital tomorrow morning.He would then make his first court appearance on a charge of allegedly murdering his mother, who was the Personal Assistant of former First Lady, Kovambo Nujoma, from 1992 to 2004.Ipinge retired in that year due to medical complications arising from a hip transplant.On the day of the murder, a next-door neighbour apparently heard the pensioner scream for help from her home in Windhoek’s Shandumbala location.Moments later, the neighbour reported, he saw her son leave the house through the back door and walk past his house.Ipinge had apparently greeted him while walking past, but because of the young man’s demeanour and the sudden silence at the house after his departure, the neighbour said he grew suspicious.After finding the house locked, the man, now accompanied by other community members, summoned the police.Police broke open the door, and found the elderly Ipinge lying motionless and in a pool of blood on her living room floor.Her son had by then disappeared, and police finally caught up with him on Monday afternoon as family and friends had begun to gather at his mother’s house for a memorial service.