By Patience Makwele

A former Namibian resident and German brewmaster, Rafael Czapla, has leveled grim allegations against his estranged wife, a former news anchor at local broadcaster (company name withheld), accusing her of exploiting institutional loopholes to carry out fraud and deception from more than 12,000 kilometers away.
Czapla claims that his wife repeatedly submitted false information to Namibian courts, government departments and financial institutions. These, allegedly include declarations that she was unmarried and had no children, falsehoods he says were used to illegally sell a jointly-owned property in Windhoek.
According to Czapla, Namibian authorities accepted these claims without proper verification, exposing what he describes as a “systemic failure” within the country’s legal and administrative systems.
“How is it possible that my wife has been living in Germany all this time, yet she is able to initiate and influence legal proceedings in Namibia as if she were present and single? No one verified her location or marital status or even asked basic questions,” Czapla narrated.

TWO CONTINENTS
This unfolding legal saga, which spans two continents, highlights what appears to be a troubling ease with which individuals can allegedly manipulate Namibia’s institutions remotely.
Czapla, who lived and worked in Namibia from 2009 to 2012 at a local brewery, says he built a life and family with his now estranged wife, welcoming their first son in Windhoek. 
However, he now claims that she led a “double life” and accuse her of attempting to abduct their two sons, with the idea of relocating them to Namibia without his consent.
 

Furthermore, at the heart of his claims is a property in Windhoek-North. Initially acquired by his spouse in 2004 before their marriage, the property became jointly-owned when the couple married in community of property in 2014. Despite this legal arrangement, Czapla alleges that the wife repeatedly attempted to sell the property without his knowledge, falsely declaring herself unmarried. Documents seen by Confidente show that a local commercial bank (name withheld) was granted a court judgment against the spose for N$976,015.42 plus compound interest and legal costs. 
The ruling, dated 21 February 2025, pertains to a mortgage loan signed on 26 September 2023. 
Czapla claims he had no knowledge of the loan and that it was secured using documents falsely declaring her as single. He also alleges that she conducted business and opened bank accounts under a closed cooperation company (disclosed to this publication), without his consent, allegedly funneling funds into those accounts. 
These specific claims regarding the marital status declaration or the company in question, could not be verified against the bank’s summons.

FLAGGED
The situation is said to have escalated after what Czapla described as an attempt abduction of the children. 
Following an alleged effort by the wife to relocate the children from Germany to Namibia, the District Court of Dortmund issued a 
Europe-wide search and alert warrant, citing potential child abduction. This is contained in German police document seen by Confidente, in which both children and the mother remain flagged in the Schengen Information System (SIS). The alerts are set to expire on 13 December 2025 for the children and a day before for the mother. 
Further concerns were raised by a letter from Czapla’s lawyers to Namibia’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, requesting an investigation into alleged attempts by the wife to change the children's names on passport applications without the father’s consent. 
In a response dated 13 February 2025, the ministry confirmed that no such passport applications were received. However, a “stop-list” has been placed on the children, preventing any new passports from being issued without a court order.

LEGAL LOOPHOLES
Meanwhile, a civil case is ongoing in the Windhoek High Court, where Czapla is pursuing legal action against his wife, and he is represented by prominent lawyer Sisa Namandje. Czapla maintains that the wife orchestrated the entire scheme remotely, aided by contacts in Namibia who allegedly submitted false documentation on her behalf.
“She is controlling everything from Germany while her contacts in Windhoek carry out the paperwork. No one, not even the ministry of home affairs, seems to have verified her location.” 
Czapla argues that this is more than a personal dispute, it exposes deeper flaws in Namibia’s systems.
“If someone can commit this kind of fraud from 12,000 kilometers away and fool so many institutions, then anyone is vulnerable. The system must be reformed.” 
As the matter unfolds in the courts, Czapla says he remains determined not only to protect his rights but also to shine a light on what he calls a quiet crisis in legal accountability.
“This could happen to any Namibian. We must fix the system before someone else suffers a worse fate.”

REPRESENTATION
When contacted for comment, lawyer Samuel Kadhila Amoomo, operating under the consultancy of Sisa Namandje, declined to speak in detail but confirmed that the case remains active.
“I have no comment as of now, as the matter is still ongoing. We can discuss this once the matter is finalized,” said Amoomo.
Several efforts to get comments from the wife were futile, however a close family member speaking on condition of anonymity came to her defense and expressed concern over the public nature of the allegations. “[She] is not a criminal. She is alone in a foreign country, trying to hold things together.” The family member also questioned the child abduction narrative put forward by Czapla. “Why would she want to abduct her own kids? That is their mother,” the relative said. “Her mother passed away in 2020 and she could not attend the funeral because of Covid-19 and when the tombstone unveiling came, that guy stopped her from coming.”They further revealed that the wife had been hospitalized for depression and claimed that Czapla himself had previously attempted suicide.
 

“They were both in the hospital for depression. Things were not okay, and did he tell you that he once tried to take his own life because of depression? There are things he is not saying. This is not just a legal case. It is deeply personal and painful. There is more to the story than what he is painting.”

CHILDREN FIRST
Gender equality practitioner and relationship specialist Ngamane Kuruaihe-Upi raised concerns over glaring institutional failures and questionable documentation in the unfolding cross-border parental dispute, calling for urgent reforms to protect children from legal and emotional exploitation.

“Children are invaluable, and the government needs to protect them by all means. That is what is missing. The best interest of the child is not being prioritised by our systems, and that’s where lawyers exploit loopholes,” he said. “From the documentation I have seen, there are serious discrepancies,  including differing birth dates between the German and Namibian birth certificates, and a false declaration of marital status, where the mother allegedly indicated she was not married, despite no record of a legal divorce. If this is true, it raises red flags about how a passport was issued and whether the father's consent was legally bypassed” he questioned.
Kuruaihe-Upi further called for systemic reforms in family law. “It must become mandatory for governments to implement post-marriage counselling during divorce. That educates people on how to be civil and cooperative for the sake of the child. Without that, children become pawns in the emotional game of who is going to win or outmaneuver who."