Police want to know who leaked autopsy information of Okahandja shooting

A high-level meeting of police officials took place yesterday to address the unauthorised disclosure of the post-mortem reportrelated to one of the five individuals killed by the police at Okahandja last year.

A doctor who declined to be named, told The Namibian this week that an interpretation of the autopsy report shows that the police appear to have intentionally killed the victim.

The meeting comes after autopsy report details of one of the five victims were shared on social media by Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) economic commissar Michael Amushelelo.

The police announced that they killed five individuals at Okahandja last year for allegations of robbery during a police search.

They were identified as Erikki ‘Akawa’ Martin, Abed Andreas, Marius Ipinge, Malaika Kotokeni and Flavianus Endjala.

Their family members have since last year accused the police of deliberately killing the victims under the guise of crime prevention.

Amushelelo has in the past week accused the police of covering up the case and failing to take action against the police officers.

More than 20 police officials reportedly met in Windhoek this week to discuss the saga, now known as the killing of the Okahandja 5.

Sources said the main focus of the meeting was on who leaked the autopsy report, as well as the performance of the Serious Crimes Department.

Police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi confirmed the meeting occurred but declined to comment on the details discussed.

“Response in this regard is that the substantive offices are to meet.

“I will respond as soon as feedback is received from those offices. Thank you for your understanding,” she said.

The Namibian contacted a doctor to interpret the autopsy report. According to the doctor, the shooting appears to have been an intentional ‘shoot-to-kill’ scenario at close range.

According to the doctor, the suspect, Malakia Kotokeni, sustained eight gunshot wounds, with four bullets penetrating his chest, indicating a close-range shooting.

“The suspect was shot eight times and four of the bullets went through the chest, which means the shooting was at close range.

“The other bullets that did not exit, indicate a far distance. However, if the guns used were big rifles, the bullets would have penetrated as well,” he said.

The post-mortem examination report, seen by The Namibian, reveals multiple gunshot wounds from various directions and trajectories, with most wounds having similar measurements.

“Multiple gunshot wounds found on this body are of different directions with different trajectories, more entry wounds were noted and fewer exit wounds.

“Most of the height from the wounds and height from the buttocks could not be measured. The majority of the wounds had approximately similar measurements,” the report notes.

The report on Kotokeni also reveals that his manner of death was assault and the immediate cause of death was by gunshot wounds.

This, according to the report, was due to the consequences of multiple injuries to his organs and also due to the consequences of the victim being struck by a projectile from a rifle, shotgun, or larger firearm of undetermined intent.

Namibian Police deputy inspector general Elias Mutota announced an investigation into a case of murder against the police officers who shot and killed the five men at Okahandja last year.

According to Mutota’s report, the police received intelligence about a planned robbery at a farm in the Khomas district and a gambling house at Okahandja.

Mutota claimed that during the chase, the suspects opened fire at the police vehicle, resulting in an exchange of shots before the vehicle stopped.

When police officers approached the suspects’ vehicle, they found five suspects inside, all of whom were declared dead by medical officers who were dispatched to the scene.

Last year, The Namibian reported that NEFF representative Epafras Mukwiilongo, who is an uncle to one of the deceased alleged robbers, Erick ‘Akawa’ Martin, claimed the suspected robbers were handcuffed before they were shot dead.

“They were not running. They were handcuffed and the handcuffs were removed at a later stage,” said Mukwiilongo.

He claimed that the police should provide the clothes worn by the alleged criminals at the time they were shot.

Mukwiilongo accused the police of committing a crime by killing the suspects.

“If a police officer has an agenda against a certain person, he or she should not use the name of the police or a police gun to kill the person.

“He should use his own gun, so people don’t blame the police force when it’s just an individual police officer within the police force who has an agenda against a certain person and decides to take the law into his own hands.”

Mukwiilongo also alleged that the suspected robbers did not shoot at police officers and were not trespassing on any property.