Niël Terblanché
HUNDREDS of mourners gathered in Katima Mulilo to bid a final good bye to Tommy Nchindo, Wamunyima Nchindo, Martin Nchindo, their cousin Sinvula Munyeme, and their elderly mother Nkungano Nchindo on Sunday.
The five coffins of the four men and their 69-year-old mother, who died of grief days after she received news that her four sons were killed by soldiers of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), was held at Ngweze Community Hall in Katima Mulilo.
The bodies of the four fishermen were repatriated from Botswana on Saturday, more than a week after they died in a hail of fire from the BDF while fishing on the southern channel of the Chobe River on the evening of 5 November.
The four coffins in which the remains of four men were transported were greeted by hundreds of very emotional residents of the Zambezi Region at the Ngoma border post on Saturday.
The crowd became unruly when they felt the officials on duty at the border post were delaying the repatriation process unnecessarily.
In the process, several long distance transport trucks were damaged after people started throwing rocks at the vehicles with Botswana registration plates passing through the border post.
The Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, with regard to the unruly behaviour said that the situation at the border post has returned to normal after senior officials from the Namibian Government intervened.
“People are very emotional at the moment. We have to allow the family and friends of the deceased persons to complete the process of mourning and burial before we can expect complete calm to return to the region,” he said.
Ndeitunga, however, added that the situation in the region remains unpredictable.
In this regard, reinforcements will be deployed to the region to assist the regional command to ensure that law and order is maintained.
“People must be able to express their emotions, but they should do so while abiding to the law and in a civil manner,” he said.
The coffin of the late Nkungano, who passed away from grief last week after suffering a heart attack while mourning her four sons, was also brought to Katima Mulilo for the memorial service.
A second memorial service will be held for the mother and her four sons in the village on Impalila Island on Monday before they will be buried on Tuesday.
The remains of Sinvula Munyeme will be taken to his home village in the Kazangula District of Zambia on Tuesday where he will finally be laid to rest.
