Government offers to compensate slain doctor’s family

A family member of Dr Lucas Ilonga, who was killed by security forces after a separatist attack in the northeast Caprivi in August, said government attorneys have offered to make an out-of-court settlement after the family instructed legal counsel to institute a civil claim against the government.

‘The Namibian’ quoted Phil ya Nangoloh, the director of Namibia’s Society for Human Rights who is a cousin of the deceased doctor, as saying he had been reliably informed the government had indicated it would like to settle the matter out of court. “If the out-of-court settlement is reasonable I see in principle no problem with that,” Ya Nangoloh said.

Ilonga was reportedly killed by security force members in the vicinity of a hospital in Katima Mulilo while rushing to a children’s ward to attend to an emergency. The army spokesman at the time claimed that Ilonga ignored orders to stop from security force members who were enforcing a curfew that was declared following an armed uprising by separatists in the Caprivi.