{"id":357430,"date":"2024-04-25T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=357430"},"modified":"2024-04-25T17:01:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:01:32","slug":"ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-anti-gay-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=357430","title":{"rendered":"Ekandjo losing sleep over unsigned anti-gay bills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SWAPO party veteran&nbsp;politician,&nbsp;has once again aired his frustration over the fact that two private members bills which he introduced last year in July, seeking to define the term \u201cspouse\u201d and amend the Marriage Act of 1961 to block the recognition of same-sex marriages in Namibia, have not been approved and signed by the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bill, which seeks to criminalize same-sex marriage by enforcing fines of up to N$100,000 or up to six years imprisonment, has drawn different perspectives, with some supporting it while others deem it unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-357439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills-300x211.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills-768x540.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills-427x300.jpeg 427w, https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills-270x190.jpeg 270w, https:\/\/informante.web.na\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ekandjo-losing-sleep-over-unsigned-Anti-Gay-bills-150x105.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">WE CANNOT\u00a0ALLOW:\u00a0Jerry Ekandjo, parliamentary backbencher of the SWAPO party.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, we are going into recess, until the 4th or 5th of June&#8230; Last year, in July, I introduced two bills in this august house. The bill was sent to the president for signing. I am going to read from the Namibian constitution. Article 56 states, \u2018Every bill passed by Parliament in terms of this Constitution&nbsp;in order to&nbsp;acquire the status of an Act of Parliament shall require the assent of the President to be signified by the signing of the bill and the publication of the Act in the Gazette\u2026 Where are we now? It is eight months down the lane. Bills that were passed in November and December were already assented to; they were signed. But our bill that went there earlier, up to now nothing has happened. If it was as per article 4, then the president&nbsp;can&nbsp;decline, but now we are at sub-article 3 where the president has to communicate, and it&nbsp;took&nbsp;eight months&nbsp;now. The president has to communicate the reason why he or she is not assenting and we should look at it,\u201d Ekandjo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that when a bill is tabled, it becomes the responsibility of the parliament to follow up, not the member who tabled it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am saying this because every bill passed by this house, the member who introduced this bill, whether from executive, cabinet, or private bill, we table the bill there at that table. It&#8217;s no longer in our hands. It&#8217;s no longer for the member who introduced it to go to State House to ask about the bill and ask where it is,\u201d Ekandjo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He further warned against Western influence in Namibia, adding that it will not be threatened by possible sanctions that may emanate from the bill from the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The deputy speaker, Loide Kasingo, added that the matter will be followed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Staff Reporter SWAPO party veteran&nbsp;politician,&nbsp;has once again aired his frustration over the fact that two private members bills which he introduced last year in July, seeking to define the term \u201cspouse\u201d and amend the Marriage Act of 1961 to block the recognition of same-sex marriages in Namibia, have not been approved and signed by the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":357431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-357430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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