Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE Inspector General of the Namibian Police Force, Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo, has initiated court proceedings against the political activist from the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) political party for contempt of court, stating that he has breached a court order from October 2024, which directed Amushelelo to refrain from making defamatory comments towards Shikongo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is after Amushelelo recently published a social media post about a rape allegation levelled against a newly appointed minister, who is under investigation for allegedly raping a minor girl five years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a society, it will be very hypocritical of all of you to demand that (redacted) resigns from his position as Member of Parliament & Minister when we equally have Joseph Shikongo, who is the Chief of Police, that we have allowed to remain in office despite the fact that he has not been held accountable for his actions. So we should first demand that Joseph Shikongo be arrested for his car accident that killed three people, before we demand that the alleged rapist [REDACTED] be arrested,\u201d Amushelelo said in a social media post on 31 March 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shikongo, in a founding affidavit, said that the respondent (Amushelelo) included two photographs at the bottom of his post, one of which is a photograph of him in official police uniform, and one of another individual that has been redacted from the copy attached to this affidavit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have redacted the name and references to another individual mentioned in the respondent’s post, as that matter involves serious allegations that are currently under investigation and the relevant authorities have yet to pronounce themselves on the matter,\u201d Shikongo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Police Chief said that the averments made by Amushelelo in the Facebook post of 31 March 2025 are substantially similar to, if not worse than, those that formed the basis of my defamation claim, in that they imply that he committed culpable homicide and suggest that he received preferential treatment and was not held accountable for his actions, despite being informed that the investigations have concluded in this matter and that the docket is now with the Prosecutor-General\u2019s office to decide whether there is evidence for his prosecution and what charges may apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe respondent’s post has further exacerbated the damage to my reputation and dignity by inappropriately linking me to unrelated allegations against another individual, thereby creating an unfair association between two entirely separate matters in the public discourse. The respondent has attempted to conflate my situation with allegations of a serious sexual offence against another individual, despite there being no factual or legal connection between these matters. Such conflation appears designed to intensify negative public sentiment through association,\u201d Shikongo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that Amushelelo\u2019s contemptuous conduct is aggravated by the fact that the settlement agreement was voluntarily entered into by the respondent with full legal representation and that he was fully aware of the terms of the settlement agreement and the court order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiven that the post has already been accessible for several days and considering the respondent’s substantial following of at least 273,000 people on Facebook alone, the damage to my reputation is multiplying exponentially as more people view, share, and comment on the post. Given the respondent’s history of making defamatory statements about me, there is a real risk that, if not restrained, he will continue to publish similar statements in contravention of the court order,\u201d Shikongo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that in light of the above, he seeks interim relief from the High Court, pending the determination of the main application for contempt of court. \u201cThe interim relief sought is essential to safeguard my reputation, dignity, and that of the constitutional office I hold, while the main application for contempt of court is being considered,\u201d the Police Chief said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thus prayed for a court order that Amushelelo immediately remove the Facebook post published on or about 31 March 2025 on his Facebook profile “Michael Amushelelo”, wherein the respondent makes statements in contempt of the court order issued on 9 October 2024, and that he be interdicted and restrained from making, publishing, posting, sharing, or communicating, whether directly or indirectly, any further statements, commentary, or insinuations concerning Shikongo that are defamatory or otherwise in relation to the road accident that occurred in February 2023, or otherwise in breach of the settlement agreement made an order of the High Court on 9 October 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The matter set to be heard on Monday, 7 April 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter THE Inspector General of the Namibian Police Force, Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo, has initiated court proceedings against the political activist from the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) political party for contempt of court, stating that he has breached a court order from October 2024, which directed Amushelelo to refrain from making defamatory comments …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":372545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-372544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n