By Confidente Reporter
QUEEN of the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority, Martha Mwadinomho Kristian Nelumbu, has opened a case against a Windhoek street vendor, Trefeine Shaalukeni (44), for allegedly impersonating an Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC) officer before threatening to arrest the queen for failing to reinstate two headmen and a headwoman she dismissed in 2011.
The queen in 2011 dismissed Ohaingu Traditional District senior traditional council, Sipora Dan, Okelemba Traditional District senior headman Hangula Vatila and Ongha village headman George Hikumwa over various reasons including holding an illegal public meeting.
Nampol’s spokesperson, Chief Inspector Kauna Shikwambi confirmed the matter saying that a case on CR45/05/2016 was opened by the queen against Shaalukeni and filed at the Ohangwena police station.
Shikwambi said that Shaalukeni was arrested May 26 in Windhoek and appeared in the Ohangwena Magistrate’s Court May 30 where she was granted bail of N$1 000. The case was postponed to August 5 for further investigations.
However, narrating events that led to her arrest Shaalukeni in an interview with Confidente denied the charges saying that telephonically she approached the queen for intervention over a dispute of land owned by Shaalukeni’s deceased grandmother and a neighbour at Ongenga.
“Initially I sought the help of our traditional leaders to help my family after a neighbour claimed that she had given my deceased grandmother a piece of land we had lived on for decades and wanted it back. They were of no assistance. I then approached the queen and after I briefed her about the dispute, she told me that the three traditional leaders she had dismissed would soon be reinstated and thus help with my case because they best understand it.
“During that conversation we talked about how the neighbour was a foreigner but always bragged about having a Namibian birth certificate. I told the queen that the neighbour could be arrested because as a foreigner born outside Namibia, the neighbour was not supposed to have that document. The queen showed interest in the information and asked me more questions. She then asked me to call her back after a few days,” narrated Shaalukeni.
After a few days, Shaalukeni said that she called the queen again to ask about the progress in the reinstatement of the three traditional leaders. This time, the queen’s spokesperson – Dimineinge Sheya answered.
What followed Shaalukeni narrated is a nightmare she will never forget. On May 26, the mother of seven said that three officers including Warrant Officer Trofimus Mukete who had travelled from Ohangwena in civilian clothes approached her while selling at her stand in Okuryangava. They had come to arrest her for allegedly threatening the queen and labelling the queen a diminutive woman.
Shaalukeni was then taken to Wanaheda Police Station where she was kept for two days before she was driven to Ohangwena to answer to the charges. During her stay at Wanaheda holding cells, Shaalukeni was cut with a blade on her heel and stabbed with a sharp object on her arm. This was confirmed by a doctor on June 2. “I was made to shower twice after a cellmate insisted that I smelled.”
After two days in holding cells, Shaalukeni was driven to Ohangwena by Mukete claiming that the officer ridiculed and verbally insulted her. “He called me a whore, a thief and a liar countless times. He also said that I was mentally challenged. This was the case until we arrived in Ohangwena.”
Shaalukeni claims that although she was advised to plead guilty to charges for her case to be finalized, she refused. “I told them I am not guilty.”
In another twist, Sheya confirmed the case but said that it was opened against Miriam Micheal Alfeus, an ACC officer. According to Sheya this was the name used by the person who had called the queen.
Meanwhile, Mukete refused to talk about his “work” with the media.
Shaalukeni with the help of NamRights now intends to sue Mukete and the Ministry of Safety and Security. A letter of demand has since been forwarded to Nampol’s Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga asking for N$2, 4 million in damages.
Shaalukeni is asking to be paid for torture, cruel and degrading treatment, reckless endangerment of her life, and racist remarks amongst others.
NamRights Executive Director Phil ya Nangolo said that they were giving the authorities a month to pay up or approach the courts.
“I respect the queen, at the same time we are trying to see if there is an amicable solution. Talks are that as per tradition because the queen is an elder, Shaalukeni apologies over the misunderstanding and they drop the charges and help her family get their piece of land. I must defend the rights of the oppressed like Shaalukeni. I cannot tolerate her rights being trampled on by a police officer because the law protects everyone.”