Defence minister Penda ya Ndakolo said that Benisius Kalola was wrongfully shot by members of the Namibian Defence Force after refusing to hand over his cellphone which he used to record a video of an Operation Kalahari Desert raid.

Ya Ndakolo was addressing members of the National Assembly yesterday when he made the remark, in which he detailed what occurred on the morning of Thursday, 5 September when Kalola was shot by a member of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF).

The minister warned that taking footage of members of the NDF and the police on duty is prohibited.

He stated that while the patrol team was in the process of searching the home of an elderly man near the Single Quarters whom they suspected of dealing in drugs, they detected a male person in the street nearby recording the search activities.

According to Ya Ndakolo, when Kalola was approached and instructed to delete the video, he defied the instruction and instead decided to flee. The officers chased after him and fired a shot while in pursuit, which led to the eventual death of the victim.

"He was not authorised to record a video of the patrol actions and the motive for the recording was not known," he stated.

Ya Ndakolo said the NDF is aware of "criminals and their sympathisers" who are against the anti-crime operation, and suspected that the victim had vengeful intent towards members of the operation.

*More details in tomorrow's edition.