Ongandjera land dispute heads to top court

Two brothers have appealed a High Court ruling ordering them to return land and property to a widow in the Ongandjera area in a dispute which is now before the Supreme Court.

Windhoek City Police deputy chief Eliaser Iiyambo and his brother Simon have appealed to the Supreme Court after the judgement delivered by judge David Munsu in the Oshakati High Court last month.

Munsu ordered Iiyambo and his brother, who were taken to court by the Ongandjera Traditional Authority for allegedly grabbing land and property from Aili Iilende, to return everything to Iilende within 10 days.

Iilende, who is employed as a teacher at Oshakati, was married to an uncle of the Iiyambo brothers, Daniel Uutoni, at the time of his death in March 2019.

After Uutoni’s death, the Iiyambo brothers allegedly locked Iilende out of her matrimonial home at Olundjinda and took possession of a farming unit of Uutoni at Etunda, prompting the legal challenge.

In his judgement, Munsu noted that Iilende and Uutoni were married in community of property. He also noted that it was clear that the Ongandjera Traditional Authority allocated land to Uutoni, and that this allocation was ratified by the Omusati Communal Land Board.

Munsu stated: “In my view, the defendants [the Iiyambo brothers] have no better claim to the aforementioned units [of land] than the widow. Besides her possession of the land parcels by virtue of her marriage, she has been granted consent to the aforesaid land parcels by the traditional authority.”

He further said: “There is no doubt that even on the version of the defendants, the widow was locked out of her matrimonial home.”

He remarked as well that he “noted with concern how the widow was dispossessed, by the deceased’s relatives, of some of the movable properties that formed part of the joint estate”.

Munsu added: “It is regrettable that property grabbing still happens in this day and age.”

The two brothers “did not lawfully oust the widow, but merely resorted to self-help”, Munsu stated as well.

“It is the finding of the court that the widow was in physical, free and undisturbed possession of both parcels of land, and that the defendants unlawfully deprived her of such possession against her wish through self-help. Consequently, the widow is entitled to an eviction order,” the judge said.

CRIMINAL CASE

Meanwhile, a criminal case opened over the alleged fraud of a land rights application by the late Uutoni has been closed after the Office of the Prosecutor General ruled it could not prosecute a deceased person.

“Under the circumstances, we are unable to make a decision to prosecute the suspect, given his passing. We therefore close our file herein,” a letter says.

The case in which Munsu’s judgement was delivered was brought by the Ongandjera Traditional Authority, its chief Johannes Mupiya, the Omusati Communal Land Board, the estate of the late Uutoni and Iilende herself.

The Ongandjera Traditional Authority and other plaintiffs were represented by lawyers Jabulani Ncube from the government attorney’s office and Augustinus Shapumba of Shapumba & Associates Inc, while the Iiyambo brothers were represented by Lotta Ambunda, instructed by Slogan Matheus & Associates.

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