Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VETERAN Swapo member of parliament, Jerry Ekandjo, has given notice of a motion in parliament to introduce a Private Members Bill and to amend the Marriage Act of 1961. The purpose of these bills is to contradict and prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ekandjo’s announcement in parliament follows contradictory remarks by the Minister of Home Affairs, Safety and Security, Albert Kawana. Kawana said that his ministry would comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court, which recognized same-sex marriages involving Namibians conducted abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After this, the Secretary General of the Swapo party criticized Kawana’s statement, questioning why he publicly acknowledged the “immoral” act and whether he realized the political and voting implications this would have on the Swapo party. Kawana is expected to respond to these questions on July 7th in the national assembly, one day before Ekandjo is scheduled to introduce the two bills that aim to nullify the Supreme Court decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his notice of motions today, Ekandjo said, “I hereby give notice that on Wednesday, 5th of July 2023, I shall, in accordance with rule 32, clause (ii) of sub-article (e), seek leave to introduce a Private Members Bill seeking to define the term spouse, invoke article 81 and 45 of the Namibian Constitution to contradict the decision of the Supreme Court and assert the representative nature of the National Assembly, and provide for incidental matters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Ekandjo announced that he would seek leave to amend the Marriage Act of 1961 in order to define the terms marriage, same-sex marriages, and spouse, and to prohibit same-sex marriages, solemnization, and the recognition of same-sex marriages in Namibia, and provide for incidental matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter VETERAN Swapo member of parliament, Jerry Ekandjo, has given notice of a motion in parliament to introduce a Private Members Bill and to amend the Marriage Act of 1961. The purpose of these bills is to contradict and prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages in the country. Ekandjo’s announcement in parliament follows contradictory …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":343511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n