KEETMANSHOOP - A retired civil servant is frustrated that the house he occupied from 1990 and bought from government last year is still not registered in his name.

 The sale process started in 2017.

Thomas Titus said he could have invested his hard-earned pension and received interest in the process, instead of wasting it on a house he does not own till today. 

He added, although having paid in full for the government house he currently occupies during July 2021, he is struggling to get the property registered into his name at the deeds office. 

“I stayed in the dwelling in the town’s Westdene residential area since 1990 whilst being employed in government as a police officer and paid the monthly rental monies accordingly to the Ministry of Works and Transport,” he explained to New Era. 

He added after retiring during 2017, he approached the line ministry’s then executive director Willem Goeieman at that time, who provided him with a deed of sale, enabling him to buy the said house for just over N$95 000.

The 65-year-old retired police officer continued he paid the purchase price of N$95 203.20 to the Ministry of Works and Transport on 13 July 2021 in their ministerial bank account, after which he and Goeieman signed a written sales contract with witnesses. 

“Since then, I was sent from one place to another without any success of the property being registered in my name as lawful owner,” he raised the concern. 

He also said when enquiring from the conveyancing law firm who handled the sales transaction on his behalf, they informed him the delay in registering his house with the Deeds Office lies with the ministry. 

“I am deeply worried to live in such uncertainty, for if I die tomorrow, where will my family go, as this house is still under ownership of the ministry,” he said. 

Titus also said although the house is currently in a deplorable condition, he cannot do any reparations or alterations on it, as the property is not yet registered under his name.

When approached for clarity, Ela Hilokwa, deputy director for asset management at the works ministry, said there were irregularities taking place at the time of selling these houses to those occupants renting it. 

“No Treasury authorisation has been obtained in terms of government rules and regulations when these houses were offered for sale and bought accordingly,” she explained. 

Hilokwa said the monetary value of this particular house has been reviewed, and she can remember seeing a new sales offer being forwarded to Titus.

When New Era enquires from the works ministry regional office in Keetmanshoop about the new deed of sale, an official declined to assist, as she is not allowed to talk to the media. 

Titus also said he never received such document. 

In addition, an official from the deeds office responded that for as long as they do not received instructions from the seller’s lawyers, they will not be in a position to register the house in Titus’ name.

- sklukowski@nepc.com.na