A succession dispute within the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority has escalated to the High Court of Namibia, where claimant Johannes Asino is seeking to halt the inauguration of a rival chief approved by the government.
Asino has filed an urgent application challenging a decision by the minister of urban and rural development, James Sankwasa, issued in January, recognising Malakia Shoombe as the new chief of the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority.
The Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority has not had a chief since the death of chief Daniel Shooya in October 2024.
According to Asino’s affidavit filed with the Windhoek High Court, he is the rightful and only lawful successor to the late chief Daniel Shooya. He claims the late chief nominated him as successor on 10 June 1996.
Asino states that his nomination was later confirmed and endorsed by the royal family responsible for succession matters, following chief Shooya’s death.
He alleges that the minister’s decision to recognise Shoombe, who is also his uncle, was “unlawful, irrational and procedurally unfair”, He accuses the ministry of bypassing procedures outlined in Section 12 of the Traditional Authorities Act.
Asino states that Shoombe was appointed in October 2020 only to assist chief Shooya during a period of ill health.
According to the application, Asino himself recommended Shoombe for the interim position because his professional obligations prevented him from assuming the role at the time.
However, Asino alleges that the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority Council later informed the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development that Shoombe had been designated as the permanent successor, a claim he describes as contrary to the wishes of the royal family.
Asino is now seeking an urgent interim interdict to stop any inauguration ceremony from proceeding while the dispute remains before the court.
He warns that allowing the inauguration to continue could destabilise the community and deepen divisions within the traditional authority.
‘YOUNG’
However, Sankwasa, in his answering affidavit signed on 9 May, says Shoombe is a member of the Uukolonkadhi royal family and is eligible and entitled to be designated as chief “in his own rights”.
“He is older than the applicant (Asino) and in accordance with the matrimonial and hierarchical considerations applicable within the community, is more appropriately placed in line of succession than the applicant,” Sankwasa says.
The minister also alleged that Shooya nominated Shoombe after consulting with the royal family.
He adds that the nomination was subsequently endorsed through the structure of the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Council.
Sankwasa also disputes Asino’s version that he was nominated by Shooya in 1996 as his successor to the throne.
According to the minister, in 1996, Shooya was not the substantive chief of Uukolonkadhi as he was acting on behalf of an ailing chief Simeon Iikasha, who was the reigning chief at the time.
The minister says Shooya was the acting chief from 1986 to 1998.
On this basis, the minister says, Shooya lacked the authority to independently nominate or designate a successor.
RIGHTFUL HEIR
In his affidavit also filed with the court, Shoombe says he was appointed by Shooya as acting chief on 15 October 2020. He also says sometime in 1999, Shooya invited him to the palace and asked him to help him in his duties as chief.
“Although I had aspired to continue my studies, I accepted,” he says.
