The “Grundbuch” Project

INCORPORATION OF THE GERMAN DEEDS REGISTRY INTO THE COMPUTERISED DEEDS REGISTRATION SYSTEM.

The Directorate of Deeds Registration retains records of all title deeds and examines all transfers of land in Namibia. Currently, the Directorate is in the process of digitising its entire collection through the implementation of the Computerised Deeds Registration System (CDRS). Importantly, this digital archive should take into consideration the information contained in the land registration system developed in the Protectorate of South-West Africa (nowadays Namibia) during the German occupation (from 1884 until 1915). This endeavour is necessary because it has been observed that a noteworthy number of deeds entered in the German Deeds Registry (from now on to be referred to by its German name as “Grundbuch” 1 ) are still valid and have never been transferred into the current Deeds Registry system. The “Grundbuch” is still alive in Namibia! This fact is, however, not new. The existence of this deeds register has been acknowledged in previous research carried out by the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – German Cooperation) and the Ministry of Land Reform (MLR). Therefore, the task of incorporating this old register into the CDRS will help to improve the accuracy of the information provided by the Deeds Registry Office. Alongside this improvement, the process includes the digitalisation of the books and files that together make up the “Grundbuch” register. This will certainly enable their conservation and the preservation of the legal and historical information they contain.