Panga man put behind bars for 60 years

THE audience in the High Court at Oshakati listened in awe on Friday as Judge President Petrus Damaseb delivered his judgement and sentence in the trial of Joseph Ngoya, who was accused of having killed and decapitated a neighbour last year.

In an hour-long judgement that marked the final chapter of the trial on what the Judge President dubbed a “murder most heinous in Namibia’s criminal history”, Damaseb found Ngoya (34) guilty of murder as charged. He went on to sentence Ngoya to 60 years’ imprisonment.”A clear message must be sent out, society must be protected against people with the same intentions like you (…) you present a serious danger to society,” the Judge President said during the sentencing.Ngoya was accused of murdering and decapitating a 57-year-old man at Ongumi village in the Eenhana district of the Ohangwena Region on September 3 last year.Ngoya stabbed Elias Shoombe in the axilla (armpit) before cutting off his head while Shoombe was alive.He then proceeded to a nearby cuca shop where he paraded the severed head.The killing was sparked by an alleged sexual affair between Shoombe and Ngoya’s wife.Ngoya, who pleaded not guilty when his trial started last month, told the court that he was acting in self-defence after Shoombe had attacked him with a panga.His defence lawyer, Bradley Basson, also told the court that his client suffered from temporary non-pathological incapacity – a mental condition caused by an emotional relapse – and was therefore not fully aware of his actions.”When my client realised that he was carrying a head around, he went home and put it in a bag and returned it to the body where he waited for the Police to arrest him,” said Basson during the trial.Judge President Damaseb dismissed the suggestion that Ngoya was acting in self-defence when he killed Shoombe.”It was the wound to the axilla that was in self-defence,” he said.The Judge President also rejected the defence that Ngoya suffered from temporary non-pathological incapacity.He dismissed this as an “afterthought”.”The accused had a recollection of where people where standing (…) was able to recall that people ran away (…) that memory loss was a fabrication beyond reasonable doubt,” Judge President Damaseb said.Before the court sentenced Ngoya, it was told that he had paid compensation – in the form of 12 head of cattle – to the late Shoombe’s family, and had also paid for the coffin in which Shoombe was buried.In her last arguments before the sentencing, State Advocate Sandra Miller, who conducted the prosecution, commented that Ngoya’s parading of Shoombe’s head at the cuca shop was a sign that he was proud of what he had done.”He wanted the man’s head and he got the man’s head,” she said.Miller suggested the imposition of a 45-year prison term.Basson in turn suggested that 20 years’ imprisonment would have been appropriate.Instead of those terms, however, the Judge President opted for one of 60 years – which is one of the longest jail terms yet imposed for murder in Namibia.He went on to sentence Ngoya to 60 years’ imprisonment.”A clear message must be sent out, society must be protected against people with the same intentions like you (…) you present a serious danger to society,” the Judge President said during the sentencing.Ngoya was accused of murdering and decapitating a 57-year-old man at Ongumi village in the Eenhana district of the Ohangwena Region on September 3 last year.Ngoya stabbed Elias Shoombe in the axilla (armpit) before cutting off his head while Shoombe was alive.He then proceeded to a nearby cuca shop where he paraded the severed head.The killing was sparked by an alleged sexual affair between Shoombe and Ngoya’s wife.Ngoya, who pleaded not guilty when his trial started last month, told the court that he was acting in self-defence after Shoombe had attacked him with a panga.His defence lawyer, Bradley Basson, also told the court that his client suffered from temporary non-pathological incapacity – a mental condition caused by an emotional relapse – and was therefore not fully aware of his actions.”When my client realised that he was carrying a head around, he went home and put it in a bag and returned it to the body where he waited for the Police to arrest him,” said Basson during the trial.Judge President Damaseb dismissed the suggestion that Ngoya was acting in self-defence when he killed Shoombe.”It was the wound to the axilla that was in self-defence,” he said.The Judge President also rejected the defence that Ngoya suffered from temporary non-pathological incapacity.He dismissed this as an “afterthought”.”The accused had a recollection of where people where standing (…) was able to recall that people ran away (…) that memory loss was a fabrication beyond reasonable doubt,” Judge President Damaseb said.Before the court sentenced Ngoya, it was told that he had paid compensation – in the form of 12 head of cattle – to the late Shoombe’s family, and had also paid for the coffin in which Shoombe was buried.In her last arguments before the sentencing, State Advocate Sandra Miller, who conducted the prosecution, commented that Ngoya’s parading of Shoombe’s head at the cuca shop was a sign that he was proud of what he had done.”He wanted the man’s head and he got the man’s head,” she said.Miller suggested the imposition of a 45-year prison term.Basson in turn suggested that 20 years’ imprisonment would have been appropriate.Instead of those terms, however, the Judge President opted for one of 60 years – which is one of the longest jail terms yet imposed for murder in Namibia.