Maharero house defends giving children’s inheritance to uncles

… ‘simply following tradition’

The Maharero Traditional Authority is under fire after it allegedly handed over a man’s land to his brothers, instead of his children after his death.

This disregards the provisions of the Omaheke Communal Land Board in the Omaheke region, the children of Siegfried Katjatenja say.

According to these provisions, the deceased’s property should be handed over to his immediate family after his death, they say.
The traditional authority, however, says it is simply following tradition, which dictates that Katjatenja’s siblings should take over his property to take care of his widow and children.

‘FORCEFULLY REMOVED’

Hivirike Katjatenja, speaking on behalf of the children, claims they were forcefully removed from their father’s land while it was handed over to their uncles Patji and ‘Big Man’ Katjatenja.

“When we lost our father in 2021, we entrusted the traditional authority to distribute his land rights to us,” she says.

The land involves 48ha at Otjivanda Tjohango and one hectare at Oukango village in the Otjinene constituency.

Hivirike says she and her siblings are looking for accommodation in Windhoek, because their uncles allegedly moved into their home.

“If our father was alive we would not be suffering like this,” she says.

The children are questioning why Patji is living at the Oukango residence when the Omaheke Communal Land Board has not made a formal decision yet.

She says the traditional authority requested the board to register the Otjivanda Tjohango property in Pati’s name.

When this failed, they gave the property to their father’s ex-wife, Ernesta Katjatenja.

The children say their father and Ernesta however, got divorced in 2007, according to the Otjiherero tradition.

Their uncles then returned Ernesta, along with six head of cattle, the children say.

THE LAND BOARD

The Omaheke Communal Land Board received a letter on 11 July 2023 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to conduct an investigation and find a solution to the reallocation of the late Siegfried’s land rights.

In a letter to the children on 11 October, the land board informed them that it does not exercise control over the inheritance of property in communal areas.

It advised them to take the issue to court and referred it back to the Maharero Traditional Authority for reallocation in terms of section 26.
In a letter to the traditional authority, the land board rejected the traditional authority’s request in a letter on 1 August 2023 to register the Otjivanda Tjohango property in Patji’s name.

Land board chairperson Elias Muundjua says it advised the traditional authority to re-evaluate its decision, based on the Communal Land Reform Act.

“We advised them that as per the act that when a person with customary land rights dies and they were married as per act 5, the land rights are passed to their wife if she is interested and then to their children,” he says.

Muundjua says the children proceeded to appeal the case to the agriculture ministry, while the land board has not made any official decision yet. The land board is awaiting a tribunal meeting to be convened by the agriculture ministry after it has conducted its own investigations.

THE TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY

Maharero Traditional Authority spokesperson Erwin Ndjavera has rubbished claims that the authority is collaborating with the children’s uncles.

“The authority had allocated the land to the late Siegfried’s brother before we were advised otherwise by the land board,” he says.

Ndjavera says the authority has allocated the land to the uncles as per Otjiherero customs, according to which the deceased’s siblings inherit his widow, children and property. The authority says it was approached by Ernesta Katjanatenja, who claimed to be Siegfried’s rightful widow.

She has alleged that the authority has excluded her in the land matter, he says.

“The authority called a final meeting with all the children, the elder Katjatenja clan and the two wives and came to a conclusion,” Ndjavera says.

The Maharero Traditional Authority then distributed the Otjivanda Tjohango property to Katjatenja’s second wife, Magdalena Kauautuku, and the Oukango village to Ernesta, respectively, he says.

“Ernesta has a marriage certificate and had a part in the construction of the home with her husband,” he says.

Ndjavera says the authority has resolved the matter and told the children to take the matter up with Kauautuku and their uncles if they wish to live on the property.

‘NO WIDOW’

However, Pumue Katjatenja, Siegfried’s brother, refutes the claims that Ernesta is a widow.

He says he was one of the family members who returned her with the cows as per Otjiherero divorce customs.

“We returned the wife over 15 years ago. She just returned once we started dealing with the land rights,” he says.

“She told me and my brothers that we never returned her, while I was there,” he says.

Patji says he and Ernesta cannot comment on the matter as counselled by the elders of the Katjatenja clan and their legal representatives.

“l don’t have any rights to provide you with any of the documents related to the Katjatenja family, according to our culture,” he says.