Shikongo and Amushelelo smoke peace pipe

Namibian Police Inspector-General Joseph Shikongo has withdrawn a defamation lawsuit against politician-cum-activist Michael Amushelelo after the latter offered an apology to the police chief and a court ordered Amushelelo not to say anything further against Shikongo.

Court documents state that Amushelelo provided a formal and binding undertaking to refrain from making, publishing or communicating, whether directly or indirectly, any further statements as set out by Shikongo.

The agreement prohibits Amushelelo from posting or tweeting or sharing any writings or videos about Shikongo.

The police chief accused Amushelelo of defaming him over a December 2022 road crash in northern Namibia, in which Shikongo was involved, that resulted in three fatalities.

Their case was heard by judge Collins Parker at the Windhoek High Court on Monday this week.

Amushelelo issued an apology, which Shikongo accepted, leading to the withdrawal of the N$1 million lawsuit.

Additionally, both parties agreed to cover their own legal costs.



Grounds for defamation

On 13 February 2023, Shikongo, through his lawyer Nambili Mhata, wrote to Amushelelo, alleging that on 9 February 2023, Amushelelo had "unlawfully" posted a video on his TikTok account, which had 40 000 followers at the time.

Amushelelo was given a deadline of a few days to remove the alleged defamatory content. However, he posted additional content related to Shikongo.

At the time, Amushelelo demanded that Shikongo be arrested following the accident, which occurred at Iindangungu village on the Ondangwa-Oshikango main road on 30 December.

The police chief's private vehicle – a white Toyota Hilux double cab – collided head-on with a white Hyundai hatchback.

Shikongo survived the crash, but Frans Pombili Ndengu (27), Sofia Natangwe Ananias (22), and Stefanus Hafeni Shahafifange Lukas (22) died in the accident.

In a video, Amushelelo claimed he had been reliably informed that Ananias was a passenger in Shikongo's car, not the Hyundai as previously reported.

He alleged that this explained why Shikongo’s vehicle was immediately removed from the scene.



Mediation success

Shikongo's lawyer said Amushelelo’s claims were not only false, but the insinuations, suggestions and innuendos concerning his client were wrongfully malicious and designed, in contempt of his client, to infringe upon his reputation, dignity, his person, self-worth and good name.

Yesterday, Mhata said Amushelelo is not compelled to delete the defamatory material he had earlier posted.

“But as a responsible citizen, that is the reasonable thing to do after apologising,” he said.

Shikongo told Namibian Sun yesterday that a mediation took place on Monday, during which Amushelelo said he had no personal issues with the head of the police, and they concluded that if Amushelelo was sorry, an apology would be acceptable.

“I don’t want him tarnishing my name with things that are not true. I don’t mind being criticised as long as it’s truthful and not false, and not posted on social media,” Shikongo said.

He said Amushelelo's insinuations that he tampered with or gave instructions to interfere with the investigations were wrong.

The police chief said the legal route could be protracted, but added that he will not hesitate to return to court if Amushelelo fails to keep his word.



Costly battles

Amushelelo yesterday said he will not delete the social media content he posted prior to the settlement.

He said a mutual agreement has been reached and unfortunately, due to the settlement agreement, he can’t publicly discuss the matter.

“I have so many court cases that I am currently battling, and frankly speaking, they are quite costly and I can’t maintain the legal fees of my attorney, Kadhila Amoomo Legal Practitioners, so at some point I am forced to settle certain legal matters,” Amushelelo said yesterday.