Social activist Michael Amushelelo has been held in contempt of court and sentenced to a suspended prison term of one month in connection with remarks that he made about suspended Namibian police inspector general Joseph Shikongo on social media last year.
In an order issued in the Windhoek High Court on Friday, judge Nate Ndauendapo declared that Amushelelo was in contempt of court for breaching the terms of a settlement agreement with Shikongo that was made an order of the High Court in October 2024.
Ndauendapo ordered that Amushelelo is to be imprisoned for one month, but that sentence is suspended for one year on a number of conditions.
The suspension of the period of imprisonment is on condition that Amushelelo is not found to be in contempt of Ndauendapo’s order, that he “refrains from publishing or disseminating any further defamatory or disparaging material” concerning Shikongo and that he issues “a formal, unequivocal and unqualified written apology” to Shikongo within seven days.
Ndauendapo’s order was made in a case in which Shikongo sued Amushelelo in connection with remarks which Amushelelo posted on his Facebook page at the end of March last year.
Shikongo claimed that Amushelelo’s remarks violated a court order issued in October 2024.
That was after Amushelelo and Shikongo agreed to settle a defamation case in which Shikongo sued Amushelelo for N$1 million in connection with previous remarks he had made about a fatal road collision in which Shikongo was involved in northern Namibia in December 2022.
In a settlement agreement that was made an order of the High Court in October 2024, it was recorded that Amushelelo tendered an apology to Shikongo and that he provided “a formal and binding undertaking” to refrain from making or publishing any further statements similar to the ones about which Shikongo instituted a defamation claim against him.
In the remarks that Amushelelo posted on his Facebook page at the end of March last year, he alleged that Shikongo has not been held accountable for his actions in the fatal collision in which he was involved, and said it should be demanded that Shikongo be arrested in connection with the accident which claimed the lives of three people.
Shikongo alleged that Amushelelo’s remarks “imply that I committed culpable homicide” and “suggest that I received preferential treatment and was not held accountable for my actions”.
Shikongo claimed this was despite Amushelelo being informed that the police docket on an investigation of the fatal accident has been sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General for a decision to be made on whether he will be prosecuted in connection with the incident.
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