Policeman jailed for killing taxi driver

A POLICEMAN who shot and killed a taxi driver during an early-morning argument apparently sparked by road rage was convicted of murder and sentenced to an effective seven years’ imprisonment last week.

The trial of Fillipus Kamati, a 42-year-old Sergeant in the Namibian Police, was concluded before Magistrate Dinnah Usiku in the Windhoek Regional Court on Wednesday. Kamati was accused of having killed a 31-year-old taxi driver, Elifas Nankudi, by shooting him in the head in front of the main entrance gate of the Ramatex factory in Windhoek on the morning of July 7 2004.Magistrate Usiku found Kamati guilty on a charge of murder, and also convicted him and a co-accused, Elias Kakondo (31), on a count of assault.She sentenced Kamati to ten years’ imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for a period of five years on condition that Kamati is not again convicted of murder committed during the period of suspension.The Magistrate further sentenced Kakondo to a fine of N$1 200 or four months’ imprisonment.After the verdict and sentence had been handed down, Kamati’s defence lawyer, Sisa Namandje, promptly filed a notice that Kamati would be appealing to the High Court against the Regional Court’s decision.In the appeal notice, Namandje is arguing that, amongst other things, Magistrate Usiku had not given sufficient weight to what he claimed were material contradictions between the testimony of key State witnesses on whose evidence the Magistrate depended to reach her verdict.Namandje also asked Magistrate Usiku to grant Kamati bail pending the finalisation of his appeal.This application was refused, with the result that Kamati had to start serving his seven-year sentence on Wednesday.Kamati pleaded not guilty to both charges of murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm when the trial started on July 20 last year.Namandje explained Kamati’s plea to the court by stating that Kamati and Nankudi were involved in an incident in which Kamati had asked Nankudi to move his vehicle, which was blocking the road in front of Kamati’s car.Nankudi’s response was to approach Kamati where Kamati was sitting in his vehicle, and to grab Kamati by the neck and start throttling him, Namandje related.He told the court that Kamati had difficulty breathing, that he then took out his Police pistol with the intention of firing a warning shot to scare Nankudi away, and that this shot then accidentally struck Nankudi in the head.That, however, was not what the court was told by two eyewitnesses who saw the violent altercation that took place between Kamati and Nankudi on the morning of July 7 2004, Magistrate Usiku noted in her judgement.These witnesses told the court that they saw Kamati and Kakondo literally dragging Nankudi out of his taxi, throwing him to the ground, and then beating him up.After this assault, Kakondo got back into his own vehicle and drove off.Nankudi got back into the taxi and wrote down the registration numbers of the vehicles of the two men who had just beaten him up, the witnesses told the court.Then he again got out, approached Kamati’s vehicle, and challenged him to a fight, the court also heard.The next moment – one of the witnesses claimed to have seen Kamati lifting an arm and pointing it in Nankudi’s direction – a shot rang out, and Nankudi, struck in the head, fell to the ground.He was mortally wounded.Both eyewitnesses denied Kamati’s claim that Nankudi had attacked him, the Magistrate noted.They also denied that Nankudi had never touched Kamati where he was sitting in the diver’s seat of his vehicle, she also noted.Considering facts like the type of weapon that Kamati used and the part of Nankudi’s body that was injured in the shooting, Magistrate Usiku concluded that Kamati wanted to kill Nankudi.The result was that she convicted him of murder.She further found him and Kakondo guilty of common assault only, because, she said, she was not convinced that they had intended to injure Nankudi more seriously when they first beat him up.Public Prosecutor Dominic Lisulo and Carlo McLeod represented the State through Kamati’s trial.Kamati was accused of having killed a 31-year-old taxi driver, Elifas Nankudi, by shooting him in the head in front of the main entrance gate of the Ramatex factory in Windhoek on the morning of July 7 2004.Magistrate Usiku found Kamati guilty on a charge of murder, and also convicted him and a co-accused, Elias Kakondo (31), on a count of assault.She sentenced Kamati to ten years’ imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for a period of five years on condition that Kamati is not again convicted of murder committed during the period of suspension.The Magistrate further sentenced Kakondo to a fine of N$1 200 or four months’ imprisonment.After the verdict and sentence had been handed down, Kamati’s defence lawyer, Sisa Namandje, promptly filed a notice that Kamati would be appealing to the High Court against the Regional Court’s decision.In the appeal notice, Namandje is arguing that, amongst other things, Magistrate Usiku had not given sufficient weight to what he claimed were material contradictions between the testimony of key State witnesses on whose evidence the Magistrate depended to reach her verdict.Namandje also asked Magistrate Usiku to grant Kamati bail pending the finalisation of his appeal.This application was refused, with the result that Kamati had to start serving his seven-year sentence on Wednesday.Kamati pleaded not guilty to both charges of murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm when the trial started on July 20 last year.Namandje explained Kamati’s plea to the court by stating that Kamati and Nankudi were involved in an incident in which Kamati had asked Nankudi to move his vehicle, which was blocking the road in front of Kamati’s car.Nankudi’s response was to approach Kamati where Kamati was sitting in his vehicle, and to grab Kamati by the neck and start throttling him, Namandje related.He told the court that Kamati had difficulty breathing, that he then took out his Police pistol with the intention of firing a warning shot to scare Nankudi away, and that this shot then accidentally struck Nankudi in the head.That, however, was not what the court was told by two eyewitnesses who saw the violent altercation that took place between Kamati and Nankudi on the morning of July 7 2004, Magistrate Usiku noted in her judgement.These witnesses told the court that they saw Kamati and Kakondo literally dragging Nankudi out of his taxi, throwing him to the ground, and then beating him up.After this assault, Kakondo got back into his own vehicle and drove off.Nankudi got back into the taxi and wrote down the registration numbers of the vehicles of the two men who had just beaten him up, the witnesses told the court.Then he again got out, approached Kamati’s vehicle, and challenged him to a fight, the court also heard.The next moment – one of the witnesses claimed to have seen Kamati lifting an arm and pointing it in Nankudi’s direction – a shot rang out, and Nankudi, struck in the head, fell to the ground.He was mortally wounded.Both eyewitnesses denied Kamati’s claim that Nankudi had attacked him, the Magistrate noted.They also denied that Nankudi had never touched Kamati where he was sitting in the diver’s seat of his vehicle, she also noted.Considering facts like the type of weapon that Kamati used and the part of Nankudi’s body that was injured in the shooting, Magistrate Usiku concluded that Kamati wanted to kill Nankudi.The result was that she convicted him of murder.She further found him and Kakondo guilty of common assault only, because, she said, she was not convinced that they had intended to injure Nankudi more seriously when they first beat him up.Public Prosecutor Dominic Lisulo and Carlo McLeod represented the State through Kamati’s trial.