Questions stalk death of Kandara

THE Namibian Police yesterday withdrew an explosive statement issued on Thursday, which contained an allegation that a gun might have been hidden in a blanket given to Avid Investment CEO Lazarus Kandara by his wife.

In a second statement issued by NamPol’s Inspector General, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, the Police said yesterday that how Kandara obtained the weapon on Wednesday was still the subject of investigations. Also yesterday, Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb confirmed that the 9mm Beretta pistol with which Kandara is said to have shot himself was registered in Kandara’s name.Goraseb said no shots were fired by any of the Police officers present at the time of the shooting and the Police were treating Kandara’s death – only metres from the doors of the Windhoek Central Police Station – as a suicide.”How exactly the deceased got hold of his firearm while in Police custody is currently the subject of an investigation headed by the Commissioners of Complaints and Discipline and the Criminal Investigation Department personally,” reads the new Police statement.Speaking in the North yesterday, President Hifikepunye Pohamba said he was disappointed in the Police.The President said it was a serious mistake that Kandara had committed suicide while in Police custody.In Windhoek, the Police said yesterday that they were investigating both a suicide inquest and the negligent performance of duties on the part of the Police.”The incident is unfortunate and regretted,” said Ndeitunga’s latest statement.”Any inconveniences which might have been caused to anyone during the process is sincerely regretted.”In a lengthy statement on Thursday evening (see page7), which detailed the Police’s account of events leading up to Kandara’s death, the Police insisted that they searched all items retrieved from his house, except one blanket.That blanket, they claimed, was one that his wife handed to him outside the house.The family’s lawyers yesterday declined to comment on the allegations, saying it first had to study the statements and await the outcome of Police investigations.INVESTIGATIONS An autopsy had already been performed on Kandara, Goraseb said yesterday, but the information contained in the report could not be divulged, as it formed part of Police investigations.Ballistic tests have not yet been concluded.Yesterday, Police said they had already interviewed several witnesses, including members of Kandara’s family, about the events leading up to his death.”The Namibian Police expresses its sympathy with the family of the deceased and requests their full co-operation in assisting with the probe,” said Ndeitunga’s latest statement.While the Police have not indicated the time of death, nor how long Kandara spent gathering personal items at his house before they returned to the Police station, he is believed to have shot himself shortly before 22h30 on Wednesday.Kandara was arrested as he stepped out of the witness box in the High Court just after 18h00 that day as inquiry proceedings into the Social Security Commission’s N$30 million investment with Avid Investment Corporation adjourned.None of the three Police officers who accompanied Kandara to the house of his cousin, Advocate Gerson Hinda, and to his own house in Hochland Park, have been suspended pending the investigations.”If there is any wrongdoing proven, action will be taken and that might include a suspension,” Goraseb said.Yesterday, Hinda said the family would reserve comment on the Police announcements until they had studied the statement or even until Police investigations were concluded.”As a family we first want to bury him.We have our own opinions of what happened.We will wait until the investigation has been done and respond in due course,” he said.INITIAL STATEMENT In its first statement on Kandara’s death, the Police claimed to have searched all the items his wife had packed for him, except a blanket she is alleged to have handed to him after they had left the house.”From the facts obtained, the only assumption that can be made is that the firearm could have been hidden in the extra blanket that was brought by his wife, (whilst the deceased and the escort were waiting outside his residence at the vehicle), and that was the very blanket the deceased was carrying on arrival at the Police station,” said Thursday’s Police statement.The Police also said that according to information at their disposal at the time, Kandara was “reportedly suffering from high blood pressure and some type of cancer”.”Every moment at his residence was done under the watchful eyes of the escort.It surfaced that while they (the escorts) were leaving the house, his wife accompanied them out of the house courtyard, and he [Kandara] requested his wife to give him another extra blanket from his house, which his wife went to fetch.There was no specific instruction given as to which blanket should be brought by his wife.Once the blanket was brought, Mr Kandara received it and got into the vehicle.He was driven to the Police station,” said the first Police statement.Hinda confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that the Police had brought Kandara to his house on the night of his arrest and death to fetch a mattress.Hinda recalls the time to have been around 21h00.There Kandara also made three phone calls: to his brother in South Africa, his sister in Otjiwarongo and to his children in Swakopmund.In their first statement, the Police recall that all the conversations were in Damara/Nama and in the presence of a constable conversant with the language.”Nothing strange emanated from the conversation except the remarks he made that Nico Josea put him in problems.He also enquired from Advocate Hinda the possibility of bail, for which he was advised accordingly,” said the Police statement.Hinda said he too had overheard Kandara’s phone conversations and that Kandara did not say anything indicating that he was “saying goodbye” to anybody (see also page 8).From Hinda’s house, Kandara was taken to his own house in the nearby Falken Street, were he collected toiletries, medicine, clothes, blanket and a pillow.”The members deny that they ate dinner at Mr Kandara’s house as per [a] media report and that this can be confirmed by two other people whom they found in the house with his wife,” said the first Police statement.LAST MOMENTS When they arrived back at the Police station, Kandara had draped the blanket he received from his wife over his shoulders and was carrying his pillow and toiletry bag.The Police said on Thursday that one officer had walked ahead of Kandara and two behind him as they approached the charge office.”The deceased asked to be taken to the toilet, and was told there was a toilet inside the cells.It was in that moment that the deceased pulled out a pistol from underneath the blanket he was carrying, and pointed it at the members.Two officers ran to take cover while the one, who was being pointed at, was pleading with the deceased not to shoot.Eventually the deceased pointed the firearm to his own chest and discharged a shot and he fell,” said the Police recollection of events.According to the Police, in his dying moments Kandara again tried to reach for the pistol but it was kicked away by an officer who had been escorting him.”The medics were summoned to the scene and medical attention was given to him, but proved futile, and he died,” said the Police.A spent cartridge was found jammed in the chamber of Kandara’s pistol.This inspection was said to have been conducted in the presence of the Deputy Regional Commander.The Police say the Scene of Crime Unit carried out gunpowder-residue tests on the deceased as well as the Police officers concerned.According to Hinda, his cellphone reflects that the call from a Police officer informing him that Kandara had been shot was made at around 10h28.Also yesterday, Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb confirmed that the 9mm Beretta pistol with which Kandara is said to have shot himself was registered in Kandara’s name.Goraseb said no shots were fired by any of the Police officers present at the time of the shooting and the Police were treating Kandara’s death – only metres from the doors of the Windhoek Central Police Station – as a suicide.”How exactly the deceased got hold of his firearm while in Police custody is currently the subject of an investigation headed by the Commissioners of Complaints and Discipline and the Criminal Investigation Department personally,” reads the new Police statement.Speaking in the North yesterday, President Hifikepunye Pohamba said he was disappointed in the Police.The President said it was a serious mistake that Kandara had committed suicide while in Police custody.In Windhoek, the Police said yesterday that they were investigating both a suicide inquest and the negligent performance of duties on the part of the Police.”The incident is unfortunate and regretted,” said Ndeitunga’s latest statement.”Any inconveniences which might have been caused to anyone during the process is sincerely regretted.”In a lengthy statement on Thursday evening (see page7), which detailed the Police’s account of events leading up to Kandara’s death, the Police insisted that they searched all items retrieved from his house, except one blanket. That blanket, they claimed, was one that his wife handed to him outside the house.The family’s lawyers yesterday declined to comment on the allegations, saying it first had to study the statements and await the outcome of Police investigations.INVESTIGATIONS An autopsy had already been performed on Kandara, Goraseb said yesterday, but the information contained in the report could not be divulged, as it formed part of Police investigations.Ballistic tests have not yet been concluded.Yesterday, Police said they had already interviewed several witnesses, including members of Kandara’s family, about the events leading up to his death.”The Namibian Police expresses its sympathy with the family of the deceased and requests their full co-operation in assisting with the probe,” said Ndeitunga’s latest statement.While the Police have not indicated the time of death, nor how long Kandara spent gathering personal items at his house before they returned to the Police station, he is believed to have shot himself shortly before 22h30 on Wednesday.Kandara was arrested as he stepped out of the witness box in the High Court just after 18h00 that day as inquiry proceedings into the Social Security Commission’s N$30 million investment with Avid Investment Corporation adjourned.None of the three Police officers who accompanied Kandara to the house of his cousin, Advocate Gerson Hinda, and to his own house in Hochland Park, have been suspended pending the investigations.”If there is any wrongdoing proven, action will be taken and that might include a suspension,” Goraseb said.Yesterday, Hinda said the family would reserve comment on the Police announcements until they had studied the statement or even until Police investigations were concluded.”As a family we first want to bury him.We have our own opinions of what happened.We will wait until the investigation has been done and respond in due course,” he said. INITIAL STATEMENT In its first statement on Kandara’s death, the Police claimed to have searched all the items his wife had packed for him, except a blanket she is alleged to have handed to him after they had left the house.”From the facts obtained, the only assumption that can be made is that the firearm could have been hidden in the extra blanket that was brought by his wife, (whilst the deceased and the escort were waiting outside his residence at the vehicle), and that was the very blanket the deceased was carrying on arrival at the Police station,” said Thursday’s Police statement.The Police also said that according to information at their disposal at the time, Kandara was “reportedly suffering from high blood pressure and some type of cancer”.”Every moment at his residence was done under the watchful eyes of the escort.It surfaced that while they (the escorts) were leaving the house, his wife accompanied them out of the house courtyard, and he [Kandara] requested his wife to give him another extra blanket from his house, which his wife went to fetch.There was no specific instruction given as to which blanket should be brought by his wife.Once the blanket was brought, Mr Kandara received it and got into the vehicle.He was driven to the Police station,” said the first Police statement.Hinda confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that the Police had brought Kandara to his house on the night of his arrest and death to fetch a mattress.Hinda recalls the time to have been around 21h00.There Kandara also made three phone calls: to his brother in South Africa, his sister in Otjiwarongo and to his children in Swakopmund.In their first statement, the Police recall that all the conversations were in Damara/Nama and in the presence of a constable conversant with the language.”Nothing strange emanated from the conversation except the remarks he made that Nico Josea put him in problems.He also enquired from Advocate Hinda the possibility of bail, for which he was advised accordingly,” said the Police statement.Hinda said he too had overheard Kandara’s phone conversations and that Kandara did not say anything indicating that he was “saying goodbye” to anybody (see also page 8).From Hinda’s house, Kandara was taken to his own house in the nearby Falken Street, were he collected toiletries, medicine, clothes, blanket and a pillow.”The members deny that they ate dinner at Mr Kandara’s house as per [a] media report and that this can be confirmed by two other people whom they found in the house with his wife,” said the first Police statement.LAST MOMENTS When they arrived back at the Police station, Kandara had draped the blanket he received from his wife over his shoulders and was carrying his pillow and toiletry bag.The Police said on Thursday that one officer had walked ahead of Kandara and two behind him as they approached the charge office.”The deceased asked to be taken to the toilet, and was told there was a toilet inside the cells.It was in that moment that the deceased pulled out a pistol from underneath the blanket he was carrying, and pointed it at the members.Two officers ran to take cover while the one, who was being pointed at, was pleading with the deceased not to shoot.Eventually the deceased pointed the firearm to his own chest and discharged a shot and he fell,” said the Police recollection of events.According to the Police, in his dying moments Kandara again tried to reach for the pistol but it was kicked away by an officer who had been escorting him.”The medics were summoned to the scene and medical attention was given to him, but proved futile, and he died,” said the Police.A spent cartridge was found jammed in the chamber of Kandara’s pistol.This inspection was said to have been conducted in the presence of the Deputy Regional Commander.The Police say the Scene of Crime Unit carried out gunpowder-residue tests on the deceased as well as the Police officers concerned.According to Hinda, his cellphone reflects that the call from a Police officer informing him that Kandara had been shot was made at around 10h28.