Man fears for his life after strangers take out funeral covers

A family in Amusa village in the Eheke constituency is seeking answers after discovering that several people, some of whom they claim are complete strangers, allegedly took out funeral policies on a 46-year-old man who recently recovered from a serious illness.

The discovery has left the family alarmed, fearing that the policies may have been taken out with malicious intent and raising questions about how the man’s personal information was obtained.

Thomas Shilunga, the man's elder brother, told Namibian Sun the family became aware of the funeral covers in May when they attempted to arrange funeral insurance for their sibling.

Instead, they were informed that he was already covered under multiple policies with different insurance providers, including, allegedly, Bon Life, Metropolitan, Sanlam Namibia and Old Mutual.

“We are not happy because we wanted to take out a funeral cover for our brother, only to discover that other people had already done so,” Thomas said.

He said the family subsequently opened a police case to establish who authorised the policies and how they were able to obtain the necessary personal information.

“We want to know why people would take out funeral covers for someone they do not know. If it was family members, we could understand, but some of the people involved are strangers to us,” Thomas said.

At death's door

The man at the centre of the controversy, who requested that only his surname, Shilunga, be published, said he was shocked to learn that people had taken out funeral covers in his name without his knowledge.

“I am not happy with what they did. They did not even know about my illness,” he said.

Medical records seen by Namibian Sun indicate that Shilunga was diagnosed with a serious illness at Oshakati State Hospital in late 2024.

Following months of treatment, his health passport shows that his condition improved significantly and that he now only attends routine appointments.

Shilunga believes the policies may have been taken out after people became aware of his illness and anticipated that he might not survive.

“I feel bad that people are using my name for financial gain when they never visited me, even when I was in hospital,” he said.

He is now calling for all policies taken out without his knowledge or consent to be cancelled.

“I want them to cancel those policies and allow my family to cover me instead,” he said.

Shilunga further insists that no one ever approached him for identification documents or sought his permission to take out any funeral cover.

“Not a single person came to me to ask for my ID in order to open a funeral policy,” he said.

Worrying pattern

Oshana police were not able to comment on the case or confirm whether it was reported by the family.

The family claims they have been unable to obtain the full identities of those who allegedly took out the policies because the insurance companies declined to disclose their details.

However, they were reportedly informed that some policies carried benefits of up to N$100 000, while others were valued at around N$25 000.

Thomas said the family’s concerns have been heightened by previous cases in which people were allegedly insured by multiple individuals before meeting violent deaths.

“That is what is worrying us. We have seen what happened in other cases where a person was covered by several individuals and later died. We do not want something like that to happen to our brother,” Thomas said.

He specifically referred to a widely publicised case after police in Oshana established that more than 40 people had taken out funeral insurance policies on the late Salom Nikanor (41), who was allegedly murdered and mutilated in January this year, prompting authorities to move to block any payouts linked to his death.

Former Oshana police head of the criminal investigation division, Fredrik Ndjadila, at the time said investigators uncovered an unusually high number of funeral policies registered in Nikanor’s name by different individuals from Okakwiyu village, where he lived before his death. Police suspect financial gain may have been a central motive behind the killing.

The family fears that the existence of multiple policies could place their relative at risk, particularly because some of the policyholders are unknown to them.

“We hear stories about people wanting money to renovate houses, improve farms or buy vehicles. It is frightening when people appear to be seeking financial gain from the lives of others and from families they do not even know,” Thomas said.

Cold trail

Thomas said he attempted to contact some of the individuals linked to the policies, but to no avail.

The family said their investigations led them to a funeral cover company on 22 May, where they discovered that three people had taken out policies on the man.

“One of them is a family member and that is acceptable. But the other two are people we do not know,” Thomas explained.

At another company, the family allegedly found a policy registered by a person identified as Van Wyk for N$25 000. Another policy was reportedly linked to a person carrying the surname Shilunga, although no full names were provided.

“That surname comes from our father’s side of the family. We are not really on good terms with some relatives there, which makes the situation even more worrying,” he said.

Some of the policies are also alleged to have been facilitated through a local bank.