Ten-year prison term for Rundu wife-killer

A RUNDU district resident who confessed that he beat his wife to death almost two years ago was sentenced to an effective jail term of ten years yesterday.

Matheus Kampanza (25) was sentenced by Magistrate Albertina Mutilitha in the Rundu Regional Court after he had pleaded guilty on a charge of murder earlier yesterday. Kampanza, who did not have legal representation at his trial, admitted that he had killed his wife, Masandu Kance (35), at their home in the Rundu district village of Mbeyo on September 23 2002.Kance died after Kampanza had beaten her with the sturdy wooden handle of a hoe.In the deadly assault in which the blows with the hoe handle were directed mostly at her upper body, her left arm and some of her ribs were broken.She also sustained chest injuries.She died from internal injuries during the night following the assault.With her death and yesterday’s imprisonment of her killer, a seven-year-old child that Kampanza and Kance had together has now effectively been left orphaned for the next ten years.The assault on Kance was sparked by a quarrel that broke out between her and Kampanza after the latter had arrived home in a drunken state on the evening of September 23 2002, Kampanza told the court.Magistrate Mutilitha sentenced him to thirteen years imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for five years on condition Kampanza is not convicted of a similar offence committed during the period of suspension.Kampanza had been in Police custody since his arrest on the day after the incident.Public Prosecutor Carlo McLeod represented the State during yesterday’s trial.Kampanza, who did not have legal representation at his trial, admitted that he had killed his wife, Masandu Kance (35), at their home in the Rundu district village of Mbeyo on September 23 2002.Kance died after Kampanza had beaten her with the sturdy wooden handle of a hoe.In the deadly assault in which the blows with the hoe handle were directed mostly at her upper body, her left arm and some of her ribs were broken.She also sustained chest injuries.She died from internal injuries during the night following the assault.With her death and yesterday’s imprisonment of her killer, a seven-year-old child that Kampanza and Kance had together has now effectively been left orphaned for the next ten years.The assault on Kance was sparked by a quarrel that broke out between her and Kampanza after the latter had arrived home in a drunken state on the evening of September 23 2002, Kampanza told the court.Magistrate Mutilitha sentenced him to thirteen years imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for five years on condition Kampanza is not convicted of a similar offence committed during the period of suspension.Kampanza had been in Police custody since his arrest on the day after the incident.Public Prosecutor Carlo McLeod represented the State during yesterday’s trial.