Operation Kalahari Desert strikes again

A CIVILIAN was shot dead, allegedly by a member of the Namibian Defence Force during an ‘Operation Kalahari Desert’ mission in Windhoek yesterday.

Benisius Kalola (32) was shot around 10h45 yesterday and died a few hours later, police spokesperson, chief inspector Kauna Shikwambi confirmed.

“So far, we can only confirm that a man was shot during the police’s ‘Operation Kalahari Desert’ exercise at [Katutura] Single Quarters. The victim, who was identified as Benisius Kalola, was rushed to the Katutura Intermediate Hospital, but he died [at] about 13h30,” she explained.

Shikwambi said no arrest had been made yet, and the police are still investigating the case and trying to determine the reason behind the shooting. In June this year, a Namibian Defence Force member, Gerson Nakale, also shot a Zimbabwean taxi driver who had allegedly avoided a police roadblock in the Greenwell Matongo area of Katutura in Windhoek. He died on the spot.

Nakale was charged with murder, and his case postponed to 15 October following his first court appearance.

Visiting Kalola’s residence yesterday, found a sombre atmosphere, with family members and neighbours gathered at the home at Katutura’s Single Quarters, and wails audible from a distance.

Kalola’s sister, Maria Shikale, was being embraced by a friend whose shirt was soaked with tears.

“As it is, there are already so many stories going around about my brother. But we know the truth, there were people at the scene who told us what happened. We also do not trust the police to investigate this if so many stories are coming from them. My brother was a loving and happy man. Who is going to take care of us and his two children?” she cried.

Another family member, Mannetjie Moses, said there were stories of Kalola having been at a house where drugs were being sold, and that he had tried to run away.

“That is not true at all. If only we can find his phone, all the evidence is in it. Where is his phone? Why can’t we find it, how come no one saw it, including the police? There are so many questions, but the important one was, why did the NDF member shoot my brother? Why, if he was running away from them?” Moses asked.

An eyewitness who asked not to be named told that just after the shooting, as Kalola lay in the street where he had fallen, “an NDF car came to pick [up] the officer from the scene, and they did not bother to help the person who had been shot”.

The eyewitness further said members of the security forces taking part in the anti-crime ‘Operation Kalahari Desert’ were raiding the property of an elderly man, whom police suspected of dealing in drugs, close to the Single Quarters shortly before the shooting.

He added that Kalola began to record the event on his phone. He was seen by members of the operation, who demanded that he hands over the phone.

Kalola allegedly refused and instead took off on foot, whereafter an NDF member ran after him and shot him.

“We did not even hear a warning shot; just one shot that hit him in the back,” the witness said.

Human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe in an email yesterday described the shooting as an “atrocious” act.

“Any arresting officer should not just shoot at a fleeing suspect – regardless of the seriousness or otherwise of the alleged offence. In the case where the fleeing suspect is not posing any threat to anyone, there is no justification why he or she should be shot at”.

“The constitutional right to life is too important to be taken so lightly. The provisions in the Criminal Procedure Act – sometimes referred to as the ‘licence to kill’ provisions, which give the police these sorts of powers, are no doubt unconstitutional,” said Tjombe.

He urged that the matter be investigated properly, and the shooter and his commander or more be prosecuted should any evidence be found “that this was just again one of those trigger-happy soldiers”.

Tjombe suggested that the safety and security minister must also immediately consider an amendment to section 49(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act – the ‘licence to kill’ provision – to bring it within the confines of Namibia’s constitutional values.

Ombudsman John Walters commented: “There should be a balance between the action committed and force used. What did they do to try and stop him from running away? There must be a reason.”

The leader of the official opposition in parliament, the Popular Democratic Movement’s McHenry Venaani, described the incident as abhorrent and disappointing.

“The whole behaviour of the defence force is questionable. It must be called to order. They should stop giving support to these guys”, he stressed.

*See public reaction to this story on page 7.