P05 05072017

THE NAMIBIAN National News Wednesday 5 July 2017
5
Reho fails to pay
water bill
• NDAPEWOSHALI
SHAPWANALE
NO TO BAIL ... Relatives of the late Getrud Tjihuiko
(44) on Friday protested against the granting of bail
to her former boyfriend Elvis Mieze (39), who is accused
of killing her and keeping her decomposing
body in their shared shack for three days last year.
Mieze appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court
in Katutura last Friday, whereafter his case was
Photo: Henry van Rooi
postponed. He allegedly killed Tjihuiko in Herero
location in Katutura, and tried to set the shack on
fire, with her body inside. The family requested that
bail should be denied as they feared that Mieze
would attack them. Control prosecutor Anna Andrianse,
who received the petition, said it is now
part of the docket.
REHOBOTH residents had to go
without water for two days recently
when the town’s water supply was cut
by NamWater over the non-payment
of longstanding debt.
Rehoboth Town Council spokesperson
Jeffrey Kasupi said yesterday that
the water was reconnected on Monday
after they had paid.
Although he could not disclose the
amount paid on Monday, councillor
Emma Farmer said they paid NamWater
N$500 000 last week.
NamWater spokesperson Johannes
Shigwedha confirmed the payment of
N$500 000, and that it went towards
paying arrears.
Shigwedha said Rehoboth was now
on a prepaid arrangement, and will still
pay the debt that runs into millions.
Johannes Shigwedha
“The prepaid meter system works on
a notification basis. They are informed
every morning of the level of the units
still remaining. Once the units are
finished, the meter shuts off. When the
prepaid meter was installed, both the
minister of agriculture and the regional
governor were informed,” he stated.
Shigwedha said he could not disclose
the amount owed because of client
confidentiality.
oman was strangled before set on fire
• WERNER MENGES
A YOUNG woman whose partly
burnt body was found near an army
base at Otjiwarongo almost two years
ago is likely to have been strangled
to death, a medical doctor testified in
the Windhoek High Court this week.
Dr Lander Barreda Betancourt
told judge Christie Liebenberg on
Monday that injuries which he observed
in the neck of the 26-year-old
Elizabeth Ganses when he carried out
an autopsy on her remains led him to
conclude that she was mostly likely
strangled manually.
The injuries to Ganses’ neck were
inflicted while she was alive, Dr
Barreda said.
He also observed a laceration of
about 12 centimetres long and 12
millimetres deep inside Ganses’
genitals, Dr Barreda testified. That
injury was inflicted after she had died,
and in his opinion it was caused not
by a blade but by something with a
pointed end, he said.
The doctor was the second prosecution
witness to testify after a 31-yearold
man, Ivan //Hoëseb, on Monday
went on trial on four charges in connection
with the killing of Ganses.
//Hoëseb’s trial started with him
denying guilt on counts of murder,
rape, robbery with aggravating
circumstances, and defeating or
obstructing the course of justice, or
attempting to do so.
The state is alleging that //Hoëseb
raped and murdered Ganses at
Otjiwarongo during the night of 30
to 31 October 2015, robbed her by
stealing her cellphone, and tried to
cover his tracks and obstruct the
police’s investigation of her death
by setting her body on fire after he
had killed her.
Defence lawyer Milton Engelbrecht
has told the court that according
to //Hoëseb, he knew Ganses since
she was part of a dancing troupe
working with him. //Hoëseb is also
claiming that he and Ganses had a
sexual relationship, Engelbrecht said.
//Hoëseb’s version of the events
around the death of Ganses was that
they were walking on their way to a
bar when she suddenly attacked him,
Engelbrecht said.
According to //Hoëseb he
tried to push Ganses her away
from him, and when she tried
to attack him again he grabbed
her from behind and held her
in a grip while her arms were
crossed over her neck, with
her left hand over her right
shoulder and right hand over
her left shoulder.
//Hoëseb was saying that
while he had Ganses in that
hold he fell backwards, knocked his
head, and lost consciousness. When
he woke up, Ganses was still in his
arms and he realised she was not
breathing and not responding when
he called her name, Engelbrecht
further recounted //Hoëseb’s instructions
to him.
//Hoëseb is denying that he set
Ganses’ body on fire or robbed her,
Engelbrecht also said.
The injuries observed in Ganses’
neck were an indication that significant
force had been exerted on that
part of her body, Dr Barreda said. He
added that it was “very unlikely” that
the sort of hold in which //Hoëseb
claimed to have had her before he
fell and lost consciousness could have
caused the kind of localised injuries
that he observed during the autopsy.
The trial is continuing.
State advocate Henry Muhongo is
prosecuting.
Swapo Hardap conference to go ahead
• LUQMAN CLOETE
SWAPO’S Hardap leadership will be
elected today despite disputes arising
from recently held district conferences
in the region.
The party’s assigned leader to
Hardap, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa,
yesterday confirmed that the regional
elective conference will go ahead today,
and said that disputes had been settled
at the regional executive committee
meeting held on Sunday.
“There is nothing going to stop the
conference. All eight districts represented
at the meeting have unanimously
endorsed it,” said Hanse-Himarwa, adding
that the candidate vetting process
was already underway.
In the reports submitted by the districts,
Hanse-Himarwa said, “there was
no word mentioned about irregularities”
during restructuring processes.
She said members were given enough
time at Sunday’s meeting to raise their
concerns about the legitimacy of the
district elective conferences, but no
grounds were provided to support such
complaints.
She said Swapo parliamentarian from
the Hardap region Nico Mugenga will
also be given an opportunity today to
raise his concerns about alleged irregularities
at the recent Mariental urban
district conference.
“If they have valid reasons, I will
take it up to do justice. I have nothing
to lose. For me, it’s all about fairness
and justice,” Hanse-Himarwa stated.
Hanse-Himarwa’s statement comes in
the wake of a letter submitted to Swapo
secretary general Nangolo Mbumba
and the party’s politburo on Monday by
a group of disgruntled members, calling
for the nullification of all recently held
regional district elective conferences.
They also called for Hanse-Himarwa
to be removed as the national leader
assigned to the region for having reduced
complaints about irregularities
and the legitimacy of the restructuring
processes to “junk status”.
“We have lost all our trust in her
and like-minded assigned leaders,” the
letter reads.
They also want incumbent regional
party coordinator Stefanus Tiboth and
information and mobilisation secretary
Edward Wambo to be charged with
bringing the party’s name into disrepute
for allowing the alleged violation
of the party’s constitution at district
conferences. Two weeks ago the same
group also called on the party’s acting
president, Hage Geingob, to nullify
district restructuring processes, and
requested that no regional conference
be convened until the alleged violations
of the party’s constitution and policies
during district restructuring processes
have been addressed.
Tiboth, Elizabeth Kharigus, Karl
Kisting and Abel Kaifunua will vie
for the regional coordinator position,
while Imgardt Gaweses, Hansina /
Huisemas, Michael Situde and Elizabeth
Kharigus will contest for the information
and mobilisation secretary
position.
Incumbent information and mobilisation
secretary Wambo, who also
doubles as Rehoboth East Rural constituency
councillor, Daweb constituency
councillor Hercules Jantze and
Imgardt Gaweses will compete for the
regional treasurer position.
Hanse-Himarwa stressed that she
had integrity and was assigned to the
region because of her capabilities and
knowledge of party rules.