CHINESE ambassador to Namibia Yiming Zhang dispatched a team of officials to Rundu following the fatal shooting of a man allegedly at the hands of his Chinese employer on Wednesday.
understands that two Chinese nationals have been arrested in connection with the shooting and killing of the employee who worked in a shop at Andara village in the Mukwe constituency in Kavango East.
The police have not released the name of the deceased to .
Zhang took to his Facebook page where he revealed that some consular officials from his embassy arrived in Kavango East on Thursday evening to discuss the matter with the police.
He said the officers have encouraged the families of the Chinese citizens involved to provide assistance to the bereaved family regarding funeral arrangements in accordance with local customs and appropriately handle the aftermath.
The officers also met with the Chinese business community there, where they urged them to strictly abide by Namibian laws, said Zhang.
“This morning (Thursday), I briefed representatives from the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Chinese enterprises on the relevant situation, and required all Chinese citizens in Namibia to comply with Namibian laws strictly,” he said in an earlier post following the shooting.
Yiming said he “was deeply shocked at the tragedy”, and shares the same pain as the “Namibian brothers and sisters.”
”I am firmly against all kinds of behaviors violating Namibian laws. I would like to express my deepest condolence to the deceased and sincerest sympathy to the bereaved families. The investigation by the police is already underway.
“I believe this case will be handled fairly and properly in accordance with the law,” his post read.
Chief inspector general of the Namibian police Sebastian Ndeitung told The Namibian today (Saturday) that two Chinese nationals were arrested in connection with the killing on Wednesday.
Ndeitunga said the Chinese nationals are aged 29 and 31 respectively and are expected to appear in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court next week Tuesday.
”A labor dispute erupted which led to the deceased assaulting the owner of the shop physically during which the owner decided to take his gun and shoot the employee. He was shot several times in his leg,” Ndeitunga noted. It is not clear how the second suspect was involved.
Although Kavango East police regional commander Johanna Ngondo told the media a few days ago that there was a burglary in the Chinese-owned shop, she said it was not established if the deceased was involved.
Meanwhile, social activist group Muzokumwe Volunteers Organization chairperson Paulus Mbangu said on social media today that members of his organisation went to Mukwe on a fact-finding mission on 18 April where they allegedly established that two separate guns were used in the murder.
“It has been irrefutably confirmed that the two Chinese… fired two shots each and the victim succumbed as a result. The shooting was premeditated and similar to shooting an animal for hunting competition. There was no remorse shown by the perpetrators of this ghastly crime,” he stated in the post.
Mbangu further claims that the police rushed to Mukwe constituency, not to express sympathy for the deceased or to console the bereaved family, but to protect the properties of the Chinese suspects.
”The inevitable conclusion to be made is that our police is captured by Chinese. Muzokumwe is deeply saddened by the reckless remark of the Kavango East police regional commander Johanna Ngondo, who intentionally fed the public fabricated information,” said Paulus.
He said Ngondo gave the impression that the killing was provoked by burglary and theft, which he said was not true and demanded that she apologise.
“We were at the shop and even engaged the owner to whom the Chinese was renting, the commissioner’s remark is nothing but lies aimed at pleasing her masters. The breaking and looting of the Chinese shop only happened after the killing,” he claims.
Ndeitunga did not comment on the accusations made by Mbangu against the police, while Ngondo could not be reached for comment.
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