Tuna’s mom not convinced skeletal remains belong to son

Rauha Uugwanga thought she was finally at peace after skeletal remains found in the mountains west of Otjomuise on the outskirts of Windhoek were identified as those of her missing son. Instead, she has been left with more questions than answers. “I’m not sure yet if the remains are those of my son,” she told The Namibian on Monday. However, the police say they have evidence that the remains are that of her son. Nearly two weeks ago, the police announced that the remains discovered have been positively identified through DNA as those of Beatus “Tuna” Iiyambo (25), who went missing on 11 January. But Uugwanga is demanding answers before she accepts it as fact. She questioned how the police have positively identified the remains as those of Iyambo when she had not provided the DNA sample she says is needed to confirm his identity due to an error on her birth certificate.

“I have been told to correct it before providing the DNA,” she says. She says the police used an old DNA file they took when clothing with human skeletal remains were discovered in the bushes at a riverbank along the Matshitshi gravel road at Otjomuise in July. However, police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi says this is not the case. Shikwambi says the woman who was confirmed as Iiyambo’s biological mother was taken to the forensic pathology office at Okahao, where a reference blood sample was collected for DNA analysis. She says about four officers were present when the sample was collected. The sample was taken to compare the mother’s DNA profile and that of the discovered human skeletal remains. “A reference sample collection form was completed to document the collection of the blood sample. Iiyambo’s mother, as the donor of the sample, affixed her signature to the form to confirm…