Staff Reporter
SAME-SEX marriage is not currently legal in Namibia, Minister of Justice and Labour Relations Fillemon Wise Immanuel has clarified, following comments in the National Assembly suggesting that a recent court ruling had legalised same-sex marriage in the country.
The issue was raised in the National Assembly on Tuesday by Minister of Works and Transport Veikko Nekundi, who expressed concern after hearing that a Namibian court had ruled that same-sex marriage was allowed.
Immanuel, responding to the matter, said the current legal position remains that same-sex couples cannot marry under Namibian law.
He explained that the Supreme Court judgment of May 2023 concerned same-sex marriages legally concluded outside Namibia and their recognition for immigration purposes.
“The Supreme Court judgment of May 2023 is a judgment that concerns the questions of same-sex marriage done outside Namibia for immigration purposes,” Immanuel said.
He said the court held that where a same-sex couple had lawfully married outside Namibia, the Namibian Government could recognise that marriage for immigration purposes.
Immanuel further pointed to the Marriage Act No. 14 of 2024, which was passed by Parliament and defines marriage as a union between persons of opposite sex.
He said the legislation has not yet been operationalised, as the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, together with his ministry, is still consulting on the regulations required for its implementation.
“That particular act took a different legislative tone where it then defines lucidly and unambiguously what marriage means. And it defines marriage as a union between persons of opposite sex,” Immanuel said.
Nekundi had raised the issue during the Fourth Session of the Eighth Parliament, saying he was concerned by what he understood to be a court ruling allowing same-sex marriage in Namibia.
Immanuel said if there was another court judgment dealing specifically with same-sex marriage that had come to his attention, he was not aware of it, reiterating that the May 2023 Supreme Court judgment dealt with marriages concluded outside Namibia for immigration purposes.
Photo: Parliament of the Republic of Namibia
