Namibia: Teacher Claims Rape Charges ‘A Plot’
A teacher accused of raping two pupils at a Windhoek school last week claimed in court yesterday that the charges against him were the result of a plot.
After being informed of the charges he is facing, teacher Ariestides Kamatuka (53) remarked to magistrate Linus Samunzala in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court that “these things” were a plot against himself. He also said he would, through his lawyer, have countercharges against the two complainants in his case.
The magistrate informed Kamatuka he was charged with two counts of rape, with the prosecution alleging that he raped a 19-year-old pupil and a minor boy at Jan Möhr Secondary School in Windhoek. Both incidents are alleged to have taken place on Wednesday last week.
Public prosecutor Rowan van Wyk also told the magistrate the 19-year-old complainant has made a statement to the police in which he said he had no objections to Kamatuka being granted bail, on condition that Kamatuka should not be allowed to be in his environment or contact him and that he should also not be teaching at any other school.
The state noted the complainant’s sentiments, but was objecting to the granting of bail to Kamatuka, Van Wyk said. He added that there was a fear Kamatuka would abscond and not stand trial if released on bail, given the nature of the charges, and that he would interfere in the investigation of his case.
Kamatuka tendered his resignation from his post as mathematics teacher at Jan Möhr Secondary School on Friday last week.
His case was postponed to 5 March for further investigations to be carried out and to give him time to get legal representation.
Samunzala directed that Kamatuka would remain in custody in the meantime.
Kamatuka made his first court appearance following his arrest on Friday shortly after a protest organised by the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso), the #ShutItAllDown movement and the Popular Democratic Movement Youth League was held at the school yesterday.
The protesters were calling for the removal of teachers accused of sexual violence at Jan Möhr and other schools countrywide.
Although the protesters were not violent, they tried to lock the school gate with a chain, and police officers used pepper spray to stop them.
The Landless People’s Movement Youth Command Element also yesterday called for the implementation of a national sex offender registry which can be used to identify people convicted of crimes of a sexual nature.
Meanwhile, Nanso, through lawyer Kadhila Amoomo, is demanding the suspension of all teachers who have been accused of sexual and gender-based violence acts, including impregnating teenage girls, pending a disciplinary hearing.
The organisation has charged that the education ministry grossly neglected its duty to create a safe environment for pupils by failing to take stern action against those accused of sodomy and any other sexual and gender-based violence acts.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Nanso says it wants pupils to go through counselling. The organisation is further asking that the police’s gender-based violence investigation unit and social workers should be deployed to Jan Möhr Secondary School and all other schools where such allegations were reported.
The ministry has seven days to meet these demands, the letter says.
