Woman stunned to learn she’s been ‘deceased’ for 2 years, death certificate issued in her name

… discovers she has death certificate under her name, home affairs investigates

An Oshakati resident says she was shocked when she discovered that a death certificate has been issued in her name.

Dodonia Shivute (46) says she applied for insurance at an insurance company (name withheld) on 19 September, only to be told that her application was declined as the system showed that she was dead and money had been claimed in her name.

The supposed death certificate, seen by The Namibian, shows that Shivute died on 26 June 2022.

Contacted for comment, ministry of home affairs public relations officer Margaret Kalo confirmed that a thorough investigation into the matter is underway and as a result, they are not able to comment.

“We don’t want to issu e you with unverified information, so the only thing we can do is wait for investigations to be conducted thoroughly then we can comment,” says Kalo.

The insurance company (name withheld but known to The Namibian) said they are also investigating the matter internally.

Shivute says she is still in shock.

“The company forwarded me the alleged copy of my death certificate which had all the correct information as on my own Identity (ID) card, and it shows that I died.

“This means someone out there insured me without my knowledge. I don’t know how they got hold of my ID card, and later also claimed I had died and somehow got my death certificate issued to claim the insurance,” says Shivute.

She says she contacted an insurance sales agent to apply for a study policy for her son, as well as life cover for herself.

“After the agent entered my particulars for submission in his computer, he told me he was going to call me back after a few days, which he did. However, to my dismay and shock, my application was declined due to the fact that I had died as there was a death certificate showing that I had died, and this death certificate was apparently issued to a cousin of mine whom I don’t know, “ Shivute explains.

“The insurance agent asked me why I would take out insurance on someone else’s identity who has already died. I was shocked.”

Shivute says the insurance company told her that money had been claimed by her supposed cousin who, it turns out, had initially insured her.

“The system apparently shows that I died in 2022 in Windhoek, but after that year, I had three children whose birth certificates I had been registering with the ministry of home affairs all the following years and nothing came up in their system,” adds Shivute.

Shivute says she has contacted the insurance company about the matter and they told her the forensic department will carry out their own investigations.

She says she also reported a case at the police and has gone to the home affairs ministry to understand how it was possible for someone to issue a death certificate in someone else’s name, especially when that person is alive.

“I wanted to know what was required when one applies for a death certificate of a relative. I was told that all that was required was an ID card copy. That was strange to find out that only the copy was required.”

She eventually found out that a medical report from the Katutura State Hospital was issued in her name.

“I went to home affairs at Oshakati and enquired about the medical report and I asked for a printout of the report, but they refused and told me there was no medical report on the system. However, when I went there initially, I was told there was a medical report which was issued from the Katutura hospital. I was told the report has been removed. They said they could not issue anything to me as the matter has to be investigated,” she says.

Not her real name. Name withheld to protect victim’s identity.