Christmas behind bars for Moussongela

Christmas behind bars for Moussongela The Congolese pastor who is in custody on charges of human trafficking, rape and assault by threat, will have to wait until 9 January for his quest to secure bail to continue.

Magistrate Jurina Hochobes on Tuesday postponed the bail hearing for the fifth time to 9 January next year. This means that his two private schools in in the north, Ongenga and Omafo, will start their 2017 academic year without him.

The 56-year-old Pedro Marcelino Moussongela, founder of the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church, Mennonite Brethren Community School Namibia and Ongenga English Private School, launched his bail application in the Ondangwa Magistrate''s Court on 3 October, but his case was postponed due to matters beyond the court''s control.

Moussongela was arrested on 23 June at his Omafo school following new charges laid against him by a complainant who reported him to NamRights. He appeared in the Ondangwa Magistrate''s Court where he was denied bail and the case was postponed to 31 August for a formal bail application. On 31 August, the bail hearing was postponed to 3 October by Magistrate Peter Nangula due to unavailability of presiding magistrate, Hochobes.

At the time of his arrest in the north, he was out on bail after a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate''s Court where he appeared accused of having trafficked five of his own children to England after he allegedly delegated someone to drop off three of these children, who are all under the age of 12, in London.

Another allegation was that he fathered one of these children with his own daughter. According to NamRights, the new complainant is a former learner at one of Moussongela''s schools and was allegedly trafficked to Turkey under the impression that she was going to further her education there, only to find out that she was allegedly taken for prostitution.

The victim also alleges she was sexually exploited in Namibia, fell pregnant and had an abortion.

During the 3 October hearing, Hochobes postponed the matter to 24 October and set it down for three days to 26 October because the prosecutor Dollen Gowases was not available on that day. When the bail hearing started in 24 October it ended at cross-examination before it was postponed to continue from 12 to 14 December, when Moussongela''s lawyer Tuwilika Shailemo informed the court that he could not continue with the cross examination as she wanted to see her doctor.

When it resumed this week, the court only heard the testimony of one witness on Monday. During the Tuesday session, Magistrate Hochobes informed the court that prosecutor Gowases had taken ill and was admitted to hospital. She postponed the case to 9 January and set it down for five days for continuation.

In October Moussongela told the court that his schools are collapsing as parents are taking their children away and government has withdrawn its subsidy. He said that the Mennonite Brethren Community School at Omafo has 600 learners and 64 staff members. He pleaded not guilty to all charges he is facing saying they are just a duplicate of the case he already faces in Windhoek and for which he is out on bail. He asked the court to grant him bail so that he can fix his schools and offer quality education to Namibian children.

Moussongela''s detention is being served at Oluno prison following a request made by Gowases that he be transferred from the police cells after he was caught using a cell phone while in the holding cells. Gowases was concerned that he may interfere with ongoing police investigation.







ILENI NANDJATO