ONGWEDIVA – Mistakes committed about seven years ago during the death of a mother came back to haunt her children, raising questions about the true circumstances of her death and where she was laid to rest, which remains a mystery to this day.
Venisia Lukas from Omunyekadi, a village in the Ohangawena Region died in 2006 at home under alleged mysterious circumstances and her cousins buried her just a few moments after her passing, leaving her orphaned children aged between 4 and 18 clueless about the location of their mother’s grave until this day. Josephinna Diyonisius (21) now a nursing student at Welwitchia University said what made her mother’s death more difficult to accept is the fact that the death is undocumented, which makes it impossible for her and her two youngest siblings to obtain any financial assistance from the government. Diyonisius is on the verge of being expelled from the university due to the non-payment of tuition and other fees and her younger sisters are unable to receive the state grant for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). The young woman claims that last year she was admitted to further her studies in India, but government could not approve her study loan, because she was unable to substantiate her claim of being an orphan. She further claims that her father who paid Welwitschia University N$3 000 during the first two months of her studies, only earns a monthly salary of N$2 000 as a driver of a Windhoek-based company. Now the father is no longer able to keep up with the monthly payment of N$1 500, which would leave him effectively with only N$500 for his own use.
Recalling how her mother died under what she describes as puzzling circumstances, Diyonisius claims her mother was never a sickly person. “She died around 7h00 we were told and we learnt about her passing around 8h00, while we were at school. We were immediately accompanied by a teacher to our grandmother’s homestead, where she was staying at the time of her death. I can remember seeing her body lying on the floor of her bedroom. Our aunt told us to go back to school, because we were writing exams. When we finished with the exams we returned from school around 10h00, only to be told that her body was sewn inside a blanket and buried and all her belongings were already inherited by her relatives. I saw her the previous evening when she gave my sister and I some money and some groceries, it seems that she was saying her goodbyes. The next day we were told that she is dead,” said the young woman through her sobs. The story of the late Lukas was also confirmed by her eldest daughter Bertha Diyonisius, who together with some neighbours claim that the people who saw the corpse of Lukas, noticed a pulse on her wrists while her body was being sewn inside a blanket. Bertha and Josephinna Diyonisius claim that their aunt who was at the forefront of arrangements during their mother’s burial refused to tell them exactly where she was laid to rest, claiming she can’t remember since she was confused at the time of the funeral.
“I would like to erect a tombstone on my mother’s grave one day, but I have no idea where she was buried,” Diyonisius told this reporter. The siblings say a document certifying her death of the mother and which was issued by the traditional authorities was allegedly destroyed accidentally by some officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs – the only document that could prove the death of their mother. The chief clerk in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration Martin Shimbudhi said he is not aware of Diyonisius’ situation. He however advised the orphans to go back to the police, as well as the traditional authorities in order to collect a declaration and letters of acknowledgement to enable them to obtain a death certificate from the ministry. The head of the Public Relations Division of the Namibian Police Force (Nampol) Edwin Kanguatjivi on the other hand advised the late Lukas’ children to consult the Woman and Child Protection Unit of Nampol should they fail to get documents from the home affairs ministry. Kanguatjivi, maintains that the manner in which the late Lukas was buried was not procedural, but a criminal offence that can only be proven if her body is exhumed to establish the actual cause of death.
By Helvy Shaanika