Seven convicted men jailed at end of second Caprivi treason trial

Seven men convicted of taking part in an attempt to secede the Zambezi region from Namibia were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 16 years on Monday.

The seven men have all been in custody for more than 20 years.

Acting judge Petrus Unengu sentenced the first accused, Progress Munuma, in the High Court to 26 years’ imprisonment, of which 10 years are suspended for a period of five years.

Munuma has been described as a leader of a separatist organisation that operated in the former Caprivi region between 1998 and the end of 2003.

Five other accused – Shine Samulandela, Alex Mushakwa, Frederick Ntambilwa, Hoster Ntombo and John Tembwe – were each sentenced to a prison term of 20 years, of which eight years are suspended for a period of five years.

Unengu described the five accused as supporters or sympathisers of the secessionist movement in the former Caprivi region.

The oldest of the seven convicted men, Manuel Makendano, who is reputed to be 78 years old, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, of which five years are suspended for a period of five years.

The seven men went through a first trial in the Windhoek High Court between 2005 and 2007.

They were sentenced to prison terms of either 32 or 30 years at the end of that trial.

The men served six years of those sentences.

After they appealed to the Supreme Court, their convictions were set aside in July 2013 and their case was sent back to the High Court for a retrial.

None of the accused testified in mitigation of sentence, and they did not show they had remorse over the crimes of which they were convicted, Unengu said during the sentencing.