WINDHOEK – Prime Minister Hage Geingob has announced that an independent, credible, impartial and transparent investigation into the death of Frieda Ndatipo will be carried out to establish the truth on what exactly happened the day she was fatally shot.
Ombudsman John Walters will lead the inquiry.
Ndatipo, 26, died during the violent confrontation between a group of ‘struggle kids’ and the police near the Swapo headquarters in Katutura last week Wednesday.
“I am pleased to inform the Namibian nation that the Ombudsman, Advocate John Walters, under the powers vested in him by Articles 91 and 92 of the Namibian Constitution, as well as the Ombudsman’s Act Seven of 1990, is empowered to investigate an incident of this nature,” Geingob said at a press conference on Friday.
Geingob said government has full confidence in Ombudsman Walters and he had no doubt that the investigation would be handled in an impartial and transparent manner.
All citizens are asked to render their full cooperation. Geingob also called on potential witnesses to come forward and give their evidence to the investigating team without fear or favour.
He also appealed to the print and electronic media not to prejudge the matter or the outcome of the investigation. “Let us be patient and wait for the report of the ombudsman. Let us allow the ombudsman to exercise his constitutional and statutory functions,” said Geingob.
Namibian Police Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi last week said an internal investigation directorate (IID) was also tasked to investigate the matter.
In an interview with New Era last Thursday, Kanguatjivi said the police that responded to the unrest of last week were not the specialist unit trained to handle riots but members of the blue uniformed force that deal with more civil matters and did not anticipate any riot.
The Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga was silent on why the police did not send the specialised unit. “We are not going to comment on this matter while the investigation is still on,” he said on Friday.