‘Senseless’ shooting lands 25-year prison sentence

A THATCHER who shot dead a female friend in Windhoek in mid-2005 in an incident termed “senseless” and “inexplicable” was sentenced in the High Court in Windhoek to a 25-year jail term on Tuesday.

A shot that was fired from a 9 mm Makarov pistol that was in the hands of Jackson Kamati (30) struck a friend of his, Hilma Mekondjo Nangupolo (26), in the abdomen at Goreangab in Windhoek on July 24 2005. The shot ended up claiming her life.Kamati claimed that the shot went off when he tried to check that his gun was safe.With a friend of Nangupolo however telling Acting Judge Christie Liebenberg during Kamati’s High Court trial that she saw Kamati holding the deadly weapon in his hand, pointing it at Nangupolo, before the shot was fired, Acting Judge Liebenberg convicted Kamati of murder on Wednesday last week.With the sentencing of Kamati on Tuesday, Acting Judge Liebenberg remarked that the killing on Nangupolo fell in the category of senseless murders being committed in Namibia.He said there was simply no reason why Kamati should have murdered Nangupolo, and because Kamati himself never took the court into his confidence to try to explain “the inexplicable”, it is still not known why Kamati had done what he did.SHEBEEN HOP Acting Judge Liebenberg noted that according to testimony heard during Kamati’s trial, Kamati had been treating Nangupolo and a friend of hers to drinks and food at two shebeens they had visited on the day of the incident.At the last shebeen, in Goreangab, Kamati at one point got up from where he and the two women were sitting and went outside.When he did not return after a while, the two women thought he had left and also decided to leave, the court heard.Nangupolo picked up a bottle of beer, which Kamati had bought earlier, from the table where they were sitting, and as she stepped outside, she was struck in the abdomen by the bullet that had been fired from Kamati’s pistol.During the sentencing, Acting Judge Liebenberg asked rhetorically whether the shooting could have been because Nangupolo had taken a bottle of beer that Kamati had paid for – but this question remained unanswered.After Nangupolo had been shot, Kamati left the scene and travelled to Keetmanshoop, where he claimed to have gone to do a roof-thatching job.He was arrested there the next day.Kamati had shot Nangupolo, “a defenceless woman, in cold blood and thereafter did not lift a finger to help her or call for help.Instead, he turned his back on her and walked away,” Acting Judge Liebenberg commented.”I find his behaviour repulsive and disgraceful.What has become of our society, that civilised people act so uncivilised?” he added.There were however indications that Kamati had remorse over the shooting and accepted that he had some responsibility to Nangupolo’s family as a result of it, Acting Judge Liebenberg also said.He noted that Kamati, who is the father of four children, had appeared before a traditional court after the shooting, and that he was ordered to pay 12 head of cattle to Nangupolo’s family, of which he has paid six animals so far.He also contributed some N$3 900 to help cover the costs of Nangupolo’s funeral.When people have to be sentenced for serious crimes, a court often finds itself in the invidious position where it has to send someone to prison, well knowing that this would cause hardship to the convicted person’s family and dependants, Acting Judge Liebenberg said.This is unfortunately one of the consequences of serious crime and one of the risks that an offender faces, he said.In addition to sentencing Kamati to 25 years’ imprisonment, Acting Judge Liebenberg also declared him unfit to possess a firearm for a period of five years, starting from the date when Kamati has finished serving his jail term.Kamati was represented by defence lawyer Johan van Vuuren.State advocate Belinda Wantenaar prosecuted.The shot ended up claiming her life.Kamati claimed that the shot went off when he tried to check that his gun was safe.With a friend of Nangupolo however telling Acting Judge Christie Liebenberg during Kamati’s High Court trial that she saw Kamati holding the deadly weapon in his hand, pointing it at Nangupolo, before the shot was fired, Acting Judge Liebenberg convicted Kamati of murder on Wednesday last week.With the sentencing of Kamati on Tuesday, Acting Judge Liebenberg remarked that the killing on Nangupolo fell in the category of senseless murders being committed in Namibia.He said there was simply no reason why Kamati should have murdered Nangupolo, and because Kamati himself never took the court into his confidence to try to explain “the inexplicable”, it is still not known why Kamati had done what he did.SHEBEEN HOP Acting Judge Liebenberg noted that according to testimony heard during Kamati’s trial, Kamati had been treating Nangupolo and a friend of hers to drinks and food at two shebeens they had visited on the day of the incident.At the last shebeen, in Goreangab, Kamati at one point got up from where he and the two women were sitting and went outside.When he did not return after a while, the two women thought he had left and also decided to leave, the court heard.Nangupolo picked up a bottle of beer, which Kamati had bought earlier, from the table where they were sitting, and as she stepped outside, she was struck in the abdomen by the bullet that had been fired from Kamati’s pistol.During the sentencing, Acting Judge Liebenberg asked rhetorically whether the shooting could have been because Nangupolo had taken a bottle of beer that Kamati had paid for – but this question remained unanswered.After Nangupolo had been shot, Kamati left the scene and travelled to Keetmanshoop, where he claimed to have gone to do a roof-thatching job.He was arrested there the next day.Kamati had shot Nangupolo, “a defenceless woman, in cold blood and thereafter did not lift a finger to help her or call for help.Instead, he turned his back on her and walked away,” Acting Judge Liebenberg commented.”I find his behaviour repulsive and disgraceful.What has become of our society, that civilised people act so uncivilised?” he added.There were however indications that Kamati had remorse over the shooting and accepted that he had some responsibility to Nangupolo’s family as a result of it, Acting Judge Liebenberg also said.He noted that Kamati, who is the father of four children, had appeared before a traditional court after the shooting, and that he was ordered to pay 12 head of cattle to Nangupolo’s family, of which he has paid six animals so far.He also contributed some N$3 900 to help cover the costs of Nangupolo’s funeral.When people have to be sentenced for serious crimes, a court often finds itself in the invidious position where it has to send someone to prison, well knowing that this would cause hardship to the convicted person’s family and dependants, Acting Judge Liebenberg said.This is unfortunately one of the consequences of serious crime and one of the risks that an offender faces, he said.In addition to sentencing Kamati to 25 years’ imprisonment, Acting Judge Liebenberg also declared him unfit to possess a firearm for a period of five years, starting from the date when Kamati has finished serving his jail term.Kamati was represented by defence lawyer Johan van Vuuren.State advocate Belinda Wantenaar prosecuted.