Patience Makwele
The long-running Masubia chieftaincy dispute returns to the High Court on 1 October, with Princess Sehwe Maiba’s side challenging the process that led to the designation and recognition of Gilbert Muhongo Mutwa as Chief Munitenge Moraliswani III.
The review application seeks to set aside urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa’s decision of 7 April 2025 approving Mutwa’s designation, as well as the subsequent recognition of Mutwa under Proclamation No. 29 of 2025.
Sehwe and members of the Masubia Royal Council contend that the process bypassed the traditional succession order, royal lineage and institutions responsible for determining the Masubia chief.
The case follows a succession dispute that has continued since the death of Chief Kisco Maiba Liswani III in July 2021.
Mutwa’s supporters, however, maintain that his designation followed an investigation and consultations over competing claims and that his seniority and patrimonial lineage entitled him to the position.
Masubia Traditional Authority adviser Joseph Siseho, who was involved in the succession process, told the Windhoek Observer that the dispute initially involved candidates emerging from the four Masubia royal houses: Mahundu, Kasika, Ngoma and Bukalo.
He said the government investigation considered four candidates: Mutwa, Trevor Chiswaniso Maiba, James Kabati Maiba and Fredrick Nalisa-Nalisa.
According to Siseho, the investigation ultimately narrowed the field to Mutwa and Trevor after questions were raised about the lineage of the other candidates.
He said the matter then went through further consultations after the two remaining candidates could not produce one person to be designated.
Siseho said elders and representatives were asked to consider the succession according to Masubia custom, including the seniority of the candidates.
“According to our culture, Gilbert is the right person,” Siseho recalled the elders concluding.
He said Trevor was regarded as younger and would have his opportunity in future.
A woman close to the Maiba family who was familiar with the commission process gave a different account, saying the competing claims were contested from the outset.
She said the commission questioned candidates about their lineage and their entitlement to the chieftaincy.
She specifically questioned how James Kabati Maiba and Fredrick Nalisa-Nalisa had entered the succession contest, while maintaining that Mutwa’s claim was rooted in the paternal line.
She also said Trevor entered the process after the commission had already started its work.
“Considering the fact that he is also still young and Gilbert is older, he still has time to learn,” she said, describing the position taken during the proceedings.
The woman said a member of the royal family, Bartholomew Maiba, also supported Mutwa’s claim.
Bartholomew Maiba, described as the eldest surviving male child of the royal family, declined to comment when approached for this story.
“I cannot share any further information because I am also looking forward to the hearing scheduled for 1 October,” he said.
The competing accounts come against the background of a government investigation that was established after several applications for the vacant chieftaincy were received.
Public hearings were held from 5 to 18 December 2022 and again from 15 to 20 May 2023.
The investigation examined the four royal houses and the claims of the competing candidates.
Then former minister Erastus Uutoni said in 2023 that Mutwa and Trevor were from the patrimonial lineage, while Kabati and Nalisa-Nalisa were from the matrimonial lineage.
“By Traditional Law, the Masubia are a Patrimonial society. Thus, the family heritage is administered by the male side of the family lineage,” Uutoni said at the time.
Uutoni also said the majority of community members interviewed during the investigation supported Mutwa and Trevor, although some community members expressed the view that ordinary members had no right to comment on royal succession matters.
The investigation nevertheless left the royal family with the responsibility of producing one candidate from the two regarded as qualified.
Uutoni said the authorised members of the royal family were to designate a candidate and had three months to agree on one person, failing which the matter would be referred to the Masubia Chiefs’ Council.
The succession dispute had already reached the courts in January 2022, when Mutwa sought to stop the planned coronation of a rival candidate.
At the time, the High Court halted the planned coronation after Mutwa challenged the process.
Contemporary court reporting identified Fredrick Nalisa-Nalisa as the person who was due to be crowned, correcting an earlier report that had named James Kabati Maiba.
The 2022 litigation later ended in a settlement under which the Masubia Traditional Authority and Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu were required to acknowledge and process Mutwa’s application for designation.
After the subsequent investigation and further consultations, Sankwasa approved Mutwa’s designation on 7 April 2025.
In his letter to senior traditional headman Albius Kamwi, Sankwasa said approval had been granted for Mutwa to succeed the late Kisco Liswani III “after a long deliberation”.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah subsequently formally recognised Mutwa as chief in Government Proclamation No. 29 of 2025, published on 15 July 2025.
The gazette records his traditional title as Munitenge Moraliswani III and his date of designation as 23 May 2025.
But the recognition did not end the dispute.
In her 17 September notice inviting the Masubia community to attend the hearing, Sehwe said she and family members from Kasika had challenged the process through which Mutwa was designated.
“At the heart of the contestation is the contention that the process bypassed the established customary order of succession, the authority of the royal lineage and the traditional institutions through which Masubia leadership has historically derived its legitimacy and continuity,” she said.
Sehwe said the case concerns the preservation of Masubia customary law, cultural heritage, ancestral lineage and traditional authority.
The matter is being pursued with the assistance of Advocates Tshuka Luvindao and Chrissie Turck of WKH Inc.
