Fourth separatist suspect dies

A fourth man out of the original 136 suspects charged with high treason for an alleged Caprivi secessionist plot has died in custody, the ‘Namibian’ reported on Wednesday. Sydney Sinvula Lisho (25), a former accountant at the Katima Mulilo Town Council, died in Grootfontein on 2 April, police spokesman Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu said. According to Amulungu, Lisho died of “natural causes”, as did his three locally detained co-accused who also died before they could stand trial. Unable to indicate what kind of natural causes had claimed the lives of the four, Amulungu explained only that they “got ill and died”. Meanwhile, police have arrested a new suspect, the newspaper reported. Charles Kalipa Samboma (26), said to be related to leading separatist suspect John Samboma, appeared in the Grootfontein Magistrate’s Court on a charge of high treason on 9 April. He is set to appear again with the other accused on 21 May. The treason charges were laid against the accused following the August 1999 attack on Katima Mulilo, the main town in the Caprivi, by the secessionist Caprivi Liberation Army.