Murder case holds promise of revealing who killed girl’s tragic thirst for learning

THE odds remain stacked against many girls in Namibia when it comes to getting an education, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a report on Namibia last year.

But how extreme the difficulties can be that face an education-hungry girl may be revealed in violent detail later this year in the murder trial of a man who is accused of killing a young female relative – all because of her wish to get a school education. The girl was Poketi Tjindunda.At the age of 14, it is alleged, she paid the ultimate price – her life – for trying to go to school against the wish of some of her relatives.The man who is accused of having killed her is Valakana Muundjua (42), a resident of the village of Oritjokakalu in the Kunene Region.He is reported to be a relative of Tjindunda’s father.Muundjua appeared before Magistrate Paulus Noa in the Outapi Regional Court on Monday.The charge against him – murder.Magistrate Noa postponed the case against Muundjua to October 6, so he can plead to the charge and face his trial.According to Warrant Officer James Matengu, a spokesperson of the Namibian Police, Tjindunda was beaten to death late in the afternoon of February 20 last year.This happened at Otjiheke village in the Ehomba area, almost 60 kilometres west of Ruacana.Matengu said it was alleged that Tjindunda succumbed to the injuries that she sustained when Muundjua assaulted her in an effort to “discipline” her and stop her from going to school.United Nations member states, in September 2000, identified universal education, gender equality and empowering women as central goals that had to be achieved in the pursuit of global development.In the “State of the World’s Children 2004″ report of the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated late last year:”(T)o educate a girl is to educate a whole family.And what is true of families is also true of communities and, ultimately, whole countries.Study after study has taught us that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls.No other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity, lower infant and maternal mortality, improve nutrition and promote health – including helping to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.No other policy is as powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation.”At the same time that report was released, Unicef also released a report dealing specifically with girls’ education and development in Namibia.In it, Namibia was given credit for having come close to achieving gender parity in basic education, when measured nationally – that is, in having managed to get as many girls as boys into the basic education system.However, that report also noted, in many regions of the country girls tended to drop out of school especially as they approached higher grades.With the result that girls were less likely than boys to complete Grade 12, and, in turn, less likely to be able to eventually pursue higher-skilled careers.The report singled out the Kavango, Kunene and Caprivi Regions as parts of Namibia where girls were markedly outnumbered by boys in the upper grades.Gender bias and poverty were identified as the dominant barriers standing in the way of girls with regard to getting an education.”(W)hen poverty forces families to choose which of their children to send to school, they are more likely to educate the boys,” the report stated.”Girls – seen as more useful at home, not likely to succeed, and apt to become pregnant – are a risky investment.”For one girl – the late Poketi Tjindunda – the risk of such an investment is now claimed to have ultimately been her own, and to have been a risk that exacted the ultimate price.The girl was Poketi Tjindunda.At the age of 14, it is alleged, she paid the ultimate price – her life – for trying to go to school against the wish of some of her relatives.The man who is accused of having killed her is Valakana Muundjua (42), a resident of the village of Oritjokakalu in the Kunene Region.He is reported to be a relative of Tjindunda’s father.Muundjua appeared before Magistrate Paulus Noa in the Outapi Regional Court on Monday.The charge against him – murder.Magistrate Noa postponed the case against Muundjua to October 6, so he can plead to the charge and face his trial.According to Warrant Officer James Matengu, a spokesperson of the Namibian Police, Tjindunda was beaten to death late in the afternoon of February 20 last year.This happened at Otjiheke village in the Ehomba area, almost 60 kilometres west of Ruacana.Matengu said it was alleged that Tjindunda succumbed to the injuries that she sustained when Muundjua assaulted her in an effort to “discipline” her and stop her from going to school.United Nations member states, in September 2000, identified universal education, gender equality and empowering women as central goals that had to be achieved in the pursuit of global development.In the “State of the World’s Children 2004″ report of the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated late last year:”(T)o educate a girl is to educate a whole family.And what is true of families is also true of communities and, ultimately, whole countries.Study after study has taught us that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls.No other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity, lower infant and maternal mortality, improve nutrition and promote health – including helping to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.No other policy is as powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation.”At the same time that report was released, Unicef also released a report dealing specifically with girls’ education and development in Namibia.In it, Namibia was given credit for having come close to achieving gender parity in basic education, when measured nationally – that is, in having managed to get as many girls as boys into the basic education system.However, that report also noted, in many regions of the country girls tended to drop out of school especially as they approached higher grades.With the result that girls were less likely than boys to complete Grade 12, and, in turn, less likely to be able to eventually pursue higher-skilled careers.The report singled out the Kavango, Kunene and Caprivi Regions as parts of Namibia where girls were markedly outnumbered by boys in the upper grades.Gender bias and poverty were identified as the dominant barriers standing in the way of girls with regard to getting an education.”(W)hen poverty forces families to choose which of their children to send to school, they are more likely to educate the boys,” the report stated.”Girls – seen as more useful at home, not likely to succeed, and apt to become pregnant – are a risky investment.”For one girl – the late Poketi Tjindunda – the risk of such an investment is now claimed to have ultimately been her own, and to have been a risk that exacted the ultimate price.