Rape accused teacher faces long wait for trial
Ateacher accused of having sexual relations with pupils at a Windhoek school will have to wait for six months before the start of his trial in the local regional court. Making an appearance in the Katutura Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Ariestides Nathaniel Kamatuka (54) was informed the court will only be available to hear his case in October.
Thus, magistrate Surita Savage postponed the matter for plea and trial to 12 and 13 October, remanding Kamatuka in police custody. Kamatuka, who is represented by Jan Wessels, will be tried on two counts of rape, of which one complainant is a minor. Kamatuka has since resigned from his position. He is alleged to have sexually violated the complainant on 3 February 2021 at the Jan Möhr Secondary School premises.
Kamatuka has denied the allegations. At the time of his arrest last year, allegations against Kamatuka led to public outrage, with protests organised in solidarity with the victims. At the time, the school acknowledged similar incidents have taken place previously but were not reported and it will do everything humanly possible to avoid and or prevent the re-occurrence of a similar despicable incident in the future.
Kamatuka is currently on a N$10 000 bail bond. As a condition of his release on bail, he may not leave the district of Windhoek without the prior consent of the investigating officer and should hand over all travelling documents and may not apply for new ones.
Furthermore, he should report himself to the Gender-Based Violence unit every Monday and may not interfere with the victims or witnesses.
-mamakali@nepc. com.na