WINDHOEK – Namibian Police Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi insists there is still no evidence that the bullet that killed demonstrating ‘exile kid’ Frieda Ndatipo on Wednesday was fired by the police.
Ndatipo, 26, died during the violent confrontation between a group of ‘struggle kids’ and the police near the Swapo headquarters in Katutura.
“At this point of the investigation, we haven’t obtained any evidence that point to the fact that it was a policewoman or policeman implicated in the fatal shooting,” Kanguatjivi who is the police spokesperson told New Era yesterday. “If you have such evidence, please contact the investigation officers.”
Kanguatjivi said the police were also investigating reports alleging some of the ‘struggle kids’ were armed and shot some of the police in the feet. He would comment on the allegations once the investigations are completed. He was responding to New Era on reports alleging that some of the demonstrators were armed and apparently fired the first shots at the police who returned fire, resulting in the death of Ndatipo. He also said he would not comment on what the police should have done and shouldn’t have done until after the investigations were wrapped up. Asked whether the police seized any weapons from the scene, Kanguatjivi also declined to comment at this stage. He however said the police may use force when their lives are in danger or that of a third party or in defence of property. 
Asked why rubber bullets were not used, Kanguatjivi said rubber bullets and tear gas are used by the police’s specialised unit in the case of riots, “but in this case the forces that responded were not the specialised unit but the blue uniforms who did not anticipate any riot”.
He stressed: “Please bear in mind that police investigations are not driven by public interest, but it is important that all pertinent and correct facts and evidence are gathered to in the end ensure a fair and just prosecution. Please be informed that police investigating officers, once they complete their investigations and someone is charged with an offence/crime are not required to present such evidence to the public but only to the prosection.
“The public will only get access to this information once someone has been prosecuted based on the police investigation.” Kanguatjivi assured members of the public, “no one is above the law, and whatever we do must be done within the confines of the law.” Meanwhile the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) president Hidipo Hamutenya yesterday strongly condemned the shooting to death of Ndatipo whose parents died in exile.
“Such shoot-to-kill tactics are reminiscent of the apartheid era, when the lives of our people were cheap,” stated Hamutenya. “Is this what our country, under the Swapo Party-led government, has come to?” he asked. He said the government lauds “our heroes with befitting and deserved pomp and circumstance, and the very next day shoot and kill the children of these same heroes”.
“What dastardly reasoning is this?” he asked.
“Is the government saying our people no longer have the right to protest, to voice their opinion, because any dissent will be met by bullets?” further queried the minority party politician. He said even if the children had fired first, surely tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets would have sufficed to contain the situation without resorting to undue extreme force, particularly when Ndatipo was reportedly running away from the police.
Hamutenya says the blame for the loss of this young mother, struck down in the prime of her life, must be laid squarely at the feet of the government and the police. The RDP Youth League leader Monica Nambelela said the use of live ammunition on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable and reminds “us all of an apartheid era when freedom of expression was dealt with, with brute force”. “As a mother myself I cannot imagine the profound sense of loss that her family, children and friends are feeling at this moment,” she said at a press conference. She further advised fellow Namibian youth to be calm “at this moment of despair”.
“Equally we would also expect that the Swapo-led government do all possible to seriously look into this tragic episode,” she said.