Staff Reporter
WHILE the Private Members Bill, read by Swapo backbencher Jerry Ekandjo, was passed with unanimous agreement from the entire house, Parliamentarians reached a deadlock on Wednesday in passing the Civil Registration and Identification bill due to a different definition of Marriage and Spouse.
During the reading of the bill, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, Daniel Kashikola, defined the term Marriage as “a union between a man and a woman of full age, concluded or recognized in terms of the law governing civil marriage in Namibia, and a union between a man and a woman of full age, concluded under customary law of Namibia, of a Namibian traditional community, but excludes same-sex union or any other union concluded outside Namibia which is incapable of being concluded in Namibia in terms of the law of Namibia.” The definition of spouse excludes those in same-sex marriage or union.
This definition, however, contradicted Jerry Ekandjo’s definition of the term Spouse, which was passed in the Private Members bill. It defined the term Spouse as “one half of a legal union between a genetically born woman and a genetically born man.”
Maximalliant Katjimune, a member of Parliament from the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), objected to the above definition, stating that it was contradictory. “Yesterday we passed a bill that says a spouse is something different, and now we are passing another bill that says a spouse is something different. Can we have contradictory laws on the same matter? It does not make sense,” Katjimune said.
In response, Minister of Home Affairs Albert Kawana said that, according to the constitution, the Attorney General is the principal legal advisor to the President and the Government. He mentioned that any bill tabled in Parliament goes through the Attorney General as per Article 40 of the Constitution. He further explained that the amendments in the civil registration bill, which define Marriage, were certified by the Attorney General of the Republic of Namibia.
In light of this, Katjimune questioned whether the bill passed by Ekandjo would go through as it was not certified by the Attorney General. He also queried whether the bill would be ascended by the President as it contradicted the bill certified by the Attorney General.
Kawana simply reiterated that Namibia is a country ruled by law. Swapo MP Natangwe Ithete also questioned why a bill that had already been certified by the Attorney General was being brought to parliament, wondering if it could still be debated and scrutinized.
An exasperated Kawana repeated that he had already explained the procedure, emphasizing that the AG is the principal legal advisor of the President and the government. “There is a reason why the AG should certify the bill. I’m not saying that amendments cannot be made here. It is up to Parliament, after the bill has been tabled here, to make those amendments according to the same constitution. If a legal issue arises against the government, it will be the AG who will be at the forefront. When two private parties contest in court with issues of a constitutional nature, the Attorney General should be cited,” Kawana said.
Minister of Finance Iipumbu Shiimi clarified that members of Parliament could defer clause one of the bill and debate its other clauses, as it is an urgent bill that needs to be passed in order to avoid Namibia being greylisted.
Ekandjo questioned Shiimi if greylisting had to do with financial matters or with homosexuality. “The countries who supported us during the struggle are not interested in greylisiting us. If Europe and America wish to greylist us due to outlawing homosexuality, let them do so,” an irate Ekandjo said.
Swapo MP Tjekero Tweya shared that the particular amendment that brought Parliamentarians to a stalemate was certified by the Attorney General, and it would be logical to send it back to the AG to be done correctly.
Since no consensus could be reached, the Deputy Chairperson of the Whole House Committee suspended the debate on the Committee Stage and postponed the matter to today.
