THE successor of the late leader of the Kwangali Traditional Authority and other members of his community must return all the assets they have taken or received from the late chief’s estate, it has been ordered in the Windhoek High Court.
The order was given in a case in which the widow of the late chief Daniel Sitentu Mpasi, Irenia Mpasi, asked the court to issue an interdict against her late husband’s successor as traditional leader, Eugen Siwombe Kudumo, and 11 members of his community to prevent them from interfering with the proper administration of chief Mpasi’s estate.
She was also asking the court to order Kudumo and 11 other members of his community to return to her all the assets of her late husband that they distributed among themselves after his death.
Chief Mpasi died at the age of 80 in December last year. Because he did not leave a last will in which he recorded his wishes about the distribution of his belongings, his estate will have to be distributed in accordance with the rules of intestate succession.
According to a first inventory that has been lodged at the Office of the Master of the High Court, the assets in the estate are valued at about N$6 million. The assets include a farm valued at about N$4 million and a herd of 240 cattle, worth about N$1,92 million.
The Master of the High Court appointed Mrs Mpasi as the executrix of her husband’s estate in June.
In an affidavit filed at the High Court, Mrs Mpasi said while she was supposed to be in charge of the assets in the estate and the master would have to finally approve the distribution of the assets, Kudumo and the 11 other cited respondents from their community decided at a meeting on 8 August to distribute some of the assets, such a firearms, household goods and farming equipment, among themselves.
She also said more of the assets in the estate, including livestock and more farming equipment, were distributed among the respondents, who claimed the property was inherited in terms of customary practices, at a second meeting on 16 August.
Mrs Mpasi stated that the new chief and other respondents had no right to take the law into their own hands by distributing her late husband’s belongings among themselves.
In his judgement on Mrs Mpasi’s lawsuit against Kudumo and the other people involved in the distribution of the late chief’s assets, Acting Judge Collins Parker agreed that, as executrix, only Mrs Mpasi could lawfully distribute the assets in the estate. “She cannot by word of mouth or conduct, lawfully consent to another person depriving her of possession of the assets and that person distributing the assets to any persons,” the judge said. “The deprivation of [Mrs Mpasi] of possession of the assets at the time that she was in peaceful and undisturbed possession by the respondents is not only offensive of the law, it is also a criminal offence under the [Administration of Estates] Act.”
The order that Acting Judge Parker issued is in effect until 4 November at this stage.
Sisa Namandje and Matilda Jankie-Shakwa represented Mrs Mpasi when the case was heard on 1 October. Francois Bangamwabo represented Kudumo and the 11 other respondents from his community.
