Staff Reporter
ANELDA Shigwedha, (34), a woman who is accused of murdering her police officer husband, Sergeant Thomas Shigwedha, is said to have allegedly taken out three funeral insurance policies in the name of her husband months before carrying out the deadly plot.
This is according to the sister of the late Sergeant Thomas, Rosalia Shigwedha, (47), who said that the family has submitted a petition to formally oppose the granting of bail to the murder accused, Anelda, should she apply for it.
Sergeant Shigwedha, who was stationed at the Okakarara Police Station, was found dead in June 2025 in the bushes near Dr Nicky Iyambo Street in Grootfontein. According to police reports, he had sustained two stab wounds to the back of his head, and his face had been crushed with a stone.
In February 2026, the Namibian Police, in hopes of arresting the suspect, released CCTV footage showing the deceased in the company of an unknown woman. Investigations eventually led police to arrest his wife on 9 April 2026.
Last week, the murder accused, Anelda, appeared on 28 August 2026 to plead to the charges levelled against her and for a possible bail application. The matter was, however, postponed to 19 October 2026 after the lawyer of the accused, Vernon Lutebezi, failed to show up at court. Anelda faces charges of murder, read with provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, as well as contravening sections of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) (money laundering).
Rosalia said that investigators allegedly informed the family of the deceased that several funeral policies had been taken out in the name of the late Thomas, one from Bonlife and two from Metropolitan. She added that these policies were allegedly taken out in November 2024 by the murder accused, Anelda, and that the policies had matured in May 2025, a month before Thomas was found deceased in June 2025. The policies altogether are alleged to have been worth over N$170 000.00.
She added that Anelda had purportedly cashed out all this money after her husband was found deceased, but that the family has since blocked the accused, Anelda, from benefiting from a potential N$200 000.00 payout, which includes leave days accrued by the late Thomas as well as a pension payout, as the family, as partial beneficiaries, allegedly refused to sign the payout form from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF), in which the accused, Anelda, is a 50% beneficiary.
“He was a very quiet and reserved person. He was working in Okakara as a police officer. However, the wife did not stay with him. She stayed in Grootfontein with her mother. On the 19th, she would travel to Okakarara before police officers would get paid, get the money on the 20th and travel back,” Rosalia claimed.
“We were telling them, that is the lady that is in the video, it is the wife that is walking with. But the police did not believe us,” Rosalia said, after CCTV footage of her deceased brother had been released showing him walking with a woman.
In the petition, the family has asked the investigating authorities to thoroughly review statements and information provided during the initial investigations, particularly a missing person’s report that was made at Omulunga Police Station on the morning of 3rd June 2025, including statements written by family members residing at the same residence as Anelda regarding his (Thomas’) movements the previous evening, 2nd June 2025.
“Sergeant Thomas was brutally murdered, and additionally, Anelda even attended the funeral of Thomas, and cried with us without showing any remorse, after committing such a brutal act. How can someone who claims to be his wife be so cruel, and walk amongst us for 10 months, without showing any empathy or remorse,” the petition reads.
TRAGIC LOSS: The late Sergeant Thomas Shigwedha.
ACCUSED: Anelda Shigwedha. Photos: Contributed
