Court asked to intervene in Karuaihe trust dispute

THE three orphaned children of the late Judge Fonnie Karuaihe and his late wife Nokokure Karuaihe once more found themselves at the centre of a legal dispute between one of their guardians and a close relative in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

A little over three years ago, the late Judge Karuaihe’s former law partner, Dirk Conradie, and his wife Lydia (Baby) had to institute an urgent High Court case against the mother and sister of the late Nokokure Karuaihe and three of the late Judge’s sisters to force them to hand over custody and control of the three Karuaihe children to the Conradies. Yesterday Conradie was back in court again, involved in another instalment of what appears to be an ongoing saga of conflict between the people that the late Mrs Karuaihe designated as the people she wanted to take care of her children.This time around, Conradie asked Judge Sylvester Mainga on behalf of his wife to make an order that would remove Mrs Karuaihe’s sister, Sigrid Tjijorokisa, from her position as a co-trustee of a trust for the Karuaihe children.The other co-trustee of the trust, which held most of the assets to be kept for the children until they reach the age of 25, is Mrs Conradie.The three Karuaihe children – daughter Uajorokisa and sons Janee and John-Paul – lost their father when he died in a car accident in December 1998.He had been a permanent Judge of the High Court from January that year only.In April 2001, the children suffered another heavy loss when their mother, too, died in a road accident.She was 35.In her will she had directed that the Conradies would be the guardians of her children if she died while they were still minors.If the Conradies were not able to take on the responsibility, Mrs Karuaihe further directed that responsibility would be transferred to her sister, Sigrid Tjijorokisa.She also directed that Tjijorokisa and Mrs Conradie would be the two trustees responsible for administering a trust until her children had reached the age of 25.Expenses for the maintenance of the children, their education and their “advancement in life” would have to be met from this trust, the late Mrs Karuaihe stated in her will.Since losing their parents, the Karuaihe children have made their progress through school, with the oldest, Uajorokisa, enrolled to study at the University of Cape Town this year and the two boys still at school in Grades 9 and 4 at this stage.But according to Mrs Conradie, it has been a struggle to carry out her duties as a trustee with Tjijorokisa.In an affidavit filed with the High Court, she claimed that Tjijorokisa had on several occasions frustrated her in the execution of her duties as a trustee by refusing to sign cheques needed to cover expenses of the children.This came to a head in February when Mrs Conradie had to struggle to find money for Uajorokisa Karuaihe – needed to cover the costs of her registration at the University of Cape Town.At that stage, Tjijorokisa could not be traced to authorise the withdrawal of funds from the trust, Mrs Conradie claimed.In addition, Mrs Conradie claimed, she was told by Tjijorokisa that the latter would be moving to Johannesburg and that they would have to run the trust by way of fax and e-mail in future.According to Mrs Conradie she feared that such a set-up would not work, and in her opinion, it would have been in the children’s best interest to have Tjijorokisa removed as a trustee.However, argued Tjijorokisa’s legal counsel, George Coleman, it was clear that Mrs Karuaihe had intended that her sister should play a very important role – as a trustee or an alternative guardian – for the Karuaihe children.He told the Judge that Tjijorokisa was disputing the factual correctness of Mrs Conradie’s claims – such as the allegation that Tjijorokisa could not be traced when she needed to authorise the release of trust money.In effect, Mrs Conradie now wanted the court to change Mrs Karuaihe’s will, Coleman argued, as he told the court that a difficulty between two trustees was not in itself enough reason to warrant the removal of one of the trustees.Judge Mainga, remarking that he was faced with “a delicate matter”, reserved judgement.Yesterday Conradie was back in court again, involved in another instalment of what appears to be an ongoing saga of conflict between the people that the late Mrs Karuaihe designated as the people she wanted to take care of her children.This time around, Conradie asked Judge Sylvester Mainga on behalf of his wife to make an order that would remove Mrs Karuaihe’s sister, Sigrid Tjijorokisa, from her position as a co-trustee of a trust for the Karuaihe children.The other co-trustee of the trust, which held most of the assets to be kept for the children until they reach the age of 25, is Mrs Conradie.The three Karuaihe children – daughter Uajorokisa and sons Janee and John-Paul – lost their father when he died in a car accident in December 1998.He had been a permanent Judge of the High Court from January that year only.In April 2001, the children suffered another heavy loss when their mother, too, died in a road accident.She was 35.In her will she had directed that the Conradies would be the guardians of her children if she died while they were still minors.If the Conradies were not able to take on the responsibility, Mrs Karuaihe further directed that responsibility would be transferred to her sister, Sigrid Tjijorokisa.She also directed that Tjijorokisa and Mrs Conradie would be the two trustees responsible for administering a trust until her children had reached the age of 25.Expenses for the maintenance of the children, their education and their “advancement in life” would have to be met from this trust, the late Mrs Karuaihe stated in her will.Since losing their parents, the Karuaihe children have made their progress through school, with the oldest, Uajorokisa, enrolled to study at the University of Cape Town this year and the two boys still at school in Grades 9 and 4 at this stage.But according to Mrs Conradie, it has been a struggle to carry out her duties as a trustee with Tjijorokisa.In an affidavit filed with the High Court, she claimed that Tjijorokisa had on several occasions frustrated her in the execution of her duties as a trustee by refusing to sign cheques needed to cover expenses of the children.This came to a head in February when Mrs Conradie had to struggle to find money for Uajorokisa Karuaihe – needed to cover the costs of her registration at the University of Cape Town.At that stage, Tjijorokisa could not be traced to authorise the withdrawal of funds from the trust, Mrs Conradie claimed.In addition, Mrs Conradie claimed, she was told by Tjijorokisa that the latter would be moving to Johannesburg and that they would have to run the trust by way of fax and e-mail in future.According to Mrs Conradie she feared that such a set-up would not work, and in her opinion, it would have been in the children’s best interest to have Tjijorokisa removed as a trustee.However, argued Tjijorokisa’s legal counsel, George Coleman, it was clear that Mrs Karuaihe had intended that her sister should play a very important role – as a trustee or an alternative guardian – for the Karuaihe children.He told the Judge that Tjijorokisa was disputing the factual correctness of Mrs Conradie’s claims – such as the allegation that Tjijorokisa could not be traced when she needed to authorise the release of trust money.In effect, Mrs Conradie now wanted the court to change Mrs Karuaihe’s will, Coleman argued, as he told the court that a difficulty between two trustees was not in itself enough reason to warrant the removal of one of the trustees.Judge Mainga, remarking that he was faced with “a delicate matter”, reserved judgement.