Panga suspect sent off for a check-up

A COMMUNAL farmer from the Ondangwa district who is accused of a deadly panga attack that claimed the life of a man that he accused of having an affair with his wife was referred for psychiatric observation last week.

During a pre-trial appearance in the High Court in Windhoek on Wednesday, Vilho Nghidimbwasha (51) was referred to undergo a month-long period of psychiatric observation. The aim is to determine if Nghidimbwasha is mentally fit to stand trial, and whether he can be held liable for actions that are claimed to have ended the life of Hofni Johannes near Uudhiya village in the Ondangwa district on July 13 2003.During last week’s pre-trial appearance, Nghidimbwasha’s defence counsel, Lucia Hamutenya, told the court that he did not know what had happened on the day Johannes was killed, and that he also appeared to be plagued by illusions.Nghidimbwasha has previously admitted both in the High Court and the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court that he killed Johannes.The reason for that, he said in the lower court in November 2003, was because he had caught Johannes committing adultery with his wife.He also said he had actually tried to hit Johannes with the flat side of a panga, without intending to kill him.He claimed he was provoked by Johannes.In the High Court in April, he blamed his now former wife for Johannes’s death, because she had an affair with him.”I warned them several times to stop what they were doing, so she continued, and that was the reason why I killed the deceased,” he said, asking the court to see to it that his former wife would also be a witness in his trial.The former wife, Anna Shipala, had since married someone else while he was in Police custody following the incident, Nghidimbwasha also said.In the indictment it is alleged that Nghidimbwasha hit Johannes on the neck with a panga, with fatal results.He then did something peculiar, the indictment also relates: “The accused for an unknown reason removed the bloodstained clothes from the deceased and cleaned the deceased’s body.He then dressed the body in clean clothes and laid (it) down on a blanket, while covered with another blanket outside the homestead.”Nghidimbwasha remains in custody.The aim is to determine if Nghidimbwasha is mentally fit to stand trial, and whether he can be held liable for actions that are claimed to have ended the life of Hofni Johannes near Uudhiya village in the Ondangwa district on July 13 2003.During last week’s pre-trial appearance, Nghidimbwasha’s defence counsel, Lucia Hamutenya, told the court that he did not know what had happened on the day Johannes was killed, and that he also appeared to be plagued by illusions.Nghidimbwasha has previously admitted both in the High Court and the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court that he killed Johannes.The reason for that, he said in the lower court in November 2003, was because he had caught Johannes committing adultery with his wife.He also said he had actually tried to hit Johannes with the flat side of a panga, without intending to kill him.He claimed he was provoked by Johannes.In the High Court in April, he blamed his now former wife for Johannes’s death, because she had an affair with him.”I warned them several times to stop what they were doing, so she continued, and that was the reason why I killed the deceased,” he said, asking the court to see to it that his former wife would also be a witness in his trial.The former wife, Anna Shipala, had since married someone else while he was in Police custody following the incident, Nghidimbwasha also said.In the indictment it is alleged that Nghidimbwasha hit Johannes on the neck with a panga, with fatal results.He then did something peculiar, the indictment also relates: “The accused for an unknown reason removed the bloodstained clothes from the deceased and cleaned the deceased’s body.He then dressed the body in clean clothes and laid (it) down on a blanket, while covered with another blanket outside the homestead.”Nghidimbwasha remains in custody.