The prosecutor general has decided that three men facing charges in connection with a deadly armed robbery at the Windhoek head office of the state-owned company Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) in January last year should stand trial in the Windhoek High Court.
The three accused were informed during an appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday that the prosecutor general has decided to arraign them jointly on 10 charges in the High Court.
Two of the accused, former Namdia security officer Joel Angula and a relative, Sam Shololo, were jointly charged until yesterday, while the third accused, former security company employee Samuel Shipanga, was charged on his own in a separate case.
The charges Angula (47), Shololo (50) and Shipanga (34) will be facing in the High Court include counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiring to commit robbery and murder, disguising the unlawful origin of property, theft of diamonds, and the possession of uncut diamonds.
They are required to make a first pretrial appearance in the High Court on 19 August.
Angula, who is a former police officer, was employed by Namdia as a security officer when an armed robbery took place at the company’s premises in Windhoek on 18 January 2025.
A Namdia security officer, Francis Eiseb (58), and one of the alleged robbers, Max Endjala (43), were killed when they were shot during the robbery.
The state is alleging that 51 725 carats of diamonds, valued at N$335.6 million, were stolen during the heist, and that about 47 250 carats of diamonds, valued at N$295 million, have not been recovered after the armed robbery.
It is also alleged that unpolished diamonds valued at about N$4.8 million were found hidden in boots at Angula’s home in Windhoek on 19 January last year.
Testifying during a bail hearing in December last year, Angula denied that he had removed diamonds from the Namdia premises.
He also told the court that Endjala was his cousin and best friend, and that he and Shololo are relatives, with Shololo described by him as his uncle.
Angula’s application to be granted bail did not succeed, and he and Shololo are both being held in custody.
Shipanga has also been held in custody since his arrest in April last year.
Before he was added as the third accused in the case in which Angula and Shololo are charged, Shipanga was charged with stealing diamonds from the Namdia premises after the robbery.
