Ruling on appeal by Ovitoto double murder convict in October

WINDHOEK, 24 SEP – The ruling on an appeal by a truck driver serving a custodial sentence of 63 years for killing a mother and her daughter in the Ovitoto communal area in 2009, will be made public next month.
Julius ‘Namab’ Dausab, 49, was on 03 April 2017 sentenced to a total of 63 years for killing his girlfriend, Paulina Kenamuni, 28, and her mother, Elfrieda Kenamuni, 44, by shooting them with a hunting rifle at the Okandjira Post near Okahandja in the Otjozondjupa Region on 03 June 2009.
High Court Judge Alfred Siboleka, after having listened to submissions by Dausab’s government-funded defence lawyer Mbanga Siyomuinji and State Advocate Eric Moyo on Monday, said he will hand down his judgement on 19 October.
In his submission, Siyomuinji asked the court to grant his client leave to appeal against both the convictions and the long prison term in the Supreme Court because he feels this court will come up with a different conclusion in respect of the circumstances that led to the deaths of the two victims.
“My client is not disputing the evidence that he was at the scene of the crime on 03 June 2009, but he is disputing the credibility of the prosecution’s evidence that he was the actual person who fired the shots from a hunting rifle that claimed the lives of the two women. There are loopholes in the State’s evidence and for this reason we are asking this court to allow my client a chance to appeal in the Supreme Court,” Siyomuinji argued.
However, State Advocate Moyo asked the court to not entertain Dausab’s request for leave to appeal because there was no misdirection by the High Court during trial and at the time of handing down the judgement and sentencing.
He said the applicant was fairly tried and sentenced in accordance with the seriousness of the offences he committed and the court should dismiss the application for leave to appeal.
On the first count of murder with intent to kill in respect of the death of his late girlfriend, Dausab was jailed for 38 years.
He also received a 25-year custodial term on the second count of murder in respect of the death of her mother.
On the last counts of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, Dausab was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count.
The sentences in each of the two counts were ordered to run concurrently with the sentence imposed in the first count of murder.
Judge Siboleka imposed the sentences in the matter on 03 April 2017.
Dausab was also declared unfit to possess a firearm for a period of two years from the date of the finalisation of serving his sentence.
He is a first-time offender with no record of a previous conviction. – NAMPA