THE inquest into the shooting of the three Nchindo brothers and their Zambian cousin by Botswana Defence Force (BDF) soldiers has heard evidence that no firearms had been recovered from the victims.
BDF section commander, lieutenant Moreri Kenneth Mphela, said during this weeks proceedings at the Kasane Magistrates Court in Botswana that no guns had been found on the victims during investigations.
“There was, however, no gun found, and we suspect it fell in the water,” he said.
The evidence is being heard by regional magistrate Taboka Mopipi.
The brothers Tommy, Wamunyima, and Martin Nchindo, and their Zambian cousin Sinvula Munyeme, were allegedly shot and killed by BDF soldiers while fishing in the Chobe River on 4 November 2020.
The sixth witness, only known as sergeant Mufazo, who was one of the shooters, told the court the platoon commander did not take them through the standing operating procedures at the time, since the mission was urgent.
He claimed he had four magazines with a total of 120 rounds of ammunition for his AK-47 assault rifle.
Mufazo allegedly fired eight bullets in the direction of the Nchindo brothers, and saw two of them fall into the canoe they were in.
Another fell into the water next to the riverbank, and the fourth man fell in the second canoe.
All four were motionless, he said.
Four BDF soldiers fired a total of 32 bullets which killed the Namibian fishermen.
The four BDF soldiers are known as sergeant Mufazo, private Kafila, private Ramosa, and private Majuta.
Mufazo and staff sergeant Kipulasa, who are BDF scuba divers, told the court they searched for the fishermens alleged weapons, but never found any.
They said the search was called off due to hippos in the river.
Mufazo said the BDF divers had no metal detectors, but divers from the Namibian Police did.
They could not find any weapons either.
Another witness, police constable Wananani Kenosi, claims she received an anonymous call notifying her of four armed men in two canoes heading for Sedudu/Kasikili Island.
She claimed the informer was a Setswana-speaking Namibian phoning from a Botswana number.
This number can allegedly not be traced.
Platoon commander lieutenant Collone Mphela told the court he received a call from the BDFs headquarters alerting him of four armed men.
Mphela said his team, who were sent to the area, had night-vision equipment, but only two of these instruments were in working condition.
He said the soldiers asked the Nchindo brothers and their cousin to stop, when one of the fishermen shot at the BDF, upon which the four BDF soldiers fired back and killed the fishermen.
Mphela claimed he gave the orders to shoot, but did not fire any shot himself.
He said the police found a 12,5kg bag of mealie meal containing three elephant tusks, two long spears, and canoe peddlers at the scene.
On Tuesday, BDF chief of staff joint forces and national anti-poaching coordinator brigadier Simon Motswana told the court the task force commander and the BDF soldiers acted within the required operational and tactical procedures.
On Wednesday, senior land surveyor Uabilwe Hohozizwe from the directorate of surveying in the Chobe district told the court she was given an assignment on 24 November 2020 to collect data for some points at Sedudu after the shooting.
The court was adjourned after Botswana brought in 11 new witnesses.
Namibian witnesses are expected to take the stand today.
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