Gay bills gathering dust on Geingob’s desk
Almost seven months have passed since Swapo Party lawmaker Jerry Ekandjo tabled his contentious private member's bills.
He introduced a bill on the definition of ‘spouse’, which seeks to explicitly define it to refer to heterosexual couples, and another to change sections of the Marriage Act.
The bills, which sailed through both National Assembly and the National Council, have been gathering dust on President Hage Geingob’s desk, whose stamp of approval or rejection is awaited by the nation at large.
"The president is not given a fixed time frame within which he should approve bills; however, it should be within the same parliamentary cycle which the bill was presented in. The cycle has not yet ended, and Parliament is expected to resume in February to finalise all activities and tasks of the current financial year - which ends in March," National Assembly spokesperson Sacky Kadhikwa said.
"If he has not signed in this cycle, he will have to give a reason why he is rejecting the bills and return them to the National Assembly for review and amendment.”
If enacted, the constitutional redefinition of ‘spouse’ could significantly curtail the rights of same-sex couples, rendering them unable to marry and adopt children, and deprive them of certain legal safeguards.
He introduced a bill on the definition of ‘spouse’, which seeks to explicitly define it to refer to heterosexual couples, and another to change sections of the Marriage Act.
The bills, which sailed through both National Assembly and the National Council, have been gathering dust on President Hage Geingob’s desk, whose stamp of approval or rejection is awaited by the nation at large.
"The president is not given a fixed time frame within which he should approve bills; however, it should be within the same parliamentary cycle which the bill was presented in. The cycle has not yet ended, and Parliament is expected to resume in February to finalise all activities and tasks of the current financial year - which ends in March," National Assembly spokesperson Sacky Kadhikwa said.
"If he has not signed in this cycle, he will have to give a reason why he is rejecting the bills and return them to the National Assembly for review and amendment.”
If enacted, the constitutional redefinition of ‘spouse’ could significantly curtail the rights of same-sex couples, rendering them unable to marry and adopt children, and deprive them of certain legal safeguards.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article