‘Foreigners won’t vote for you’
Govt threatened over decision to respect same-sex ruling
Government has been reminded of who will vote in 2024, after deciding to comply with a court order on same-sex marriages validly solemnised abroad.
Government should be very careful about making decisions to appease foreigners instead of Namibian voters, a traditional leader remarked yesterday after the ministry of home affairs announced that it will comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling recognising foreign same-sex spouses married abroad to Namibians.
Uukwambi chief Herman Iipumbu, who is also the chairperson of the eight Owambo traditional authorities, said: “The government should be very careful. They do not get voted [for] by outsiders”.
The ministry yesterday informed its staff to “refrain from requesting foreign nationals married to Namibians [of the same sex] and the dependent children of parties to same-sex marriages to provide any type of permit for their entry into, residence, work and/or study in Namibia”.
“What this means is that a foreign national who concludes a valid marriage with a Namibian outside Namibia - regardless of whether their relationship is heterosexual or homosexual in nature - is entitled to enter, reside, work and/or study in Namibia without the need to obtain any permit to do so, which is otherwise required of foreign nationals in terms of Part V of the Immigration Control Act,” executive director Etienne Maritz said in an internal memo.
“This also means that dependent children of the parties to same-sex marriages may enter, reside, work and/or study in Namibia without the need to obtain any permit to do so under Part V of the Immigration Control Act.”
Earlier this month, minister Albert Kawana said the ministry will not adhere to the court ruling until it receives legal advice from Attorney-General Festus Mbandeka.
Kawana yesterday refused to say whether such legal advice was eventually obtained.
Vague
Philip Luhl - who for years has battled the ministry for citizenship of his children born via surrogacy in South Africa, whom he shares with Mexican husband Guillermo Delgado - said the ministry’s notice was vague in many ways.
“We will find out when they [the ministry] answer all our other pending matters," he told the Namibian Sun yesterday during a telephonic interview.
‘Unacceptable’
Meanwhile, Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) deputy leader and member of parliament Kalimbo Iipumbu described the ministry’s decision as "unacceptable".
"We don't support sodomy at all. Marriage should be a union between a man and a woman, not otherwise.”
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Dr Panduleni Itula said the ministry is bound by Article 18 of the Namibian Constitution to be reasonable and fair and comply with common law principles and any relevant legislation imposed upon it.
“Numerous Namibian laws do not recognise same-sex marriages and we [IPC] maintain that the Supreme Court shockingly erred patently and tremendously,” he told Namibian Sun.
But, under the circumstances, the ministry had no choice but to comply with the ruling, he said.
“Until such time, in terms of Article 81, that the Namibian parliament exercises its legislative supremacy and contradicts the Supreme Court judgment, such common law, I am afraid, shall be law to be obeyed by all natural and juristic persons in Namibia.”
Namibian renaissance
Human rights activist Linda Baumann hailed the ministry’s decision.
"This is the renaissance of being Namibian and I can now be proud to say I am Namibian.
“This was bound to happen because the Namibian government believes in the separation of powers. As much as the ministry took time to reflect on the ruling, it made this decision according to the constitution of this country," she said.
Uukwambi chief Herman Iipumbu, who is also the chairperson of the eight Owambo traditional authorities, said: “The government should be very careful. They do not get voted [for] by outsiders”.
The ministry yesterday informed its staff to “refrain from requesting foreign nationals married to Namibians [of the same sex] and the dependent children of parties to same-sex marriages to provide any type of permit for their entry into, residence, work and/or study in Namibia”.
“What this means is that a foreign national who concludes a valid marriage with a Namibian outside Namibia - regardless of whether their relationship is heterosexual or homosexual in nature - is entitled to enter, reside, work and/or study in Namibia without the need to obtain any permit to do so, which is otherwise required of foreign nationals in terms of Part V of the Immigration Control Act,” executive director Etienne Maritz said in an internal memo.
“This also means that dependent children of the parties to same-sex marriages may enter, reside, work and/or study in Namibia without the need to obtain any permit to do so under Part V of the Immigration Control Act.”
Earlier this month, minister Albert Kawana said the ministry will not adhere to the court ruling until it receives legal advice from Attorney-General Festus Mbandeka.
Kawana yesterday refused to say whether such legal advice was eventually obtained.
Vague
Philip Luhl - who for years has battled the ministry for citizenship of his children born via surrogacy in South Africa, whom he shares with Mexican husband Guillermo Delgado - said the ministry’s notice was vague in many ways.
“We will find out when they [the ministry] answer all our other pending matters," he told the Namibian Sun yesterday during a telephonic interview.
‘Unacceptable’
Meanwhile, Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) deputy leader and member of parliament Kalimbo Iipumbu described the ministry’s decision as "unacceptable".
"We don't support sodomy at all. Marriage should be a union between a man and a woman, not otherwise.”
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Dr Panduleni Itula said the ministry is bound by Article 18 of the Namibian Constitution to be reasonable and fair and comply with common law principles and any relevant legislation imposed upon it.
“Numerous Namibian laws do not recognise same-sex marriages and we [IPC] maintain that the Supreme Court shockingly erred patently and tremendously,” he told Namibian Sun.
But, under the circumstances, the ministry had no choice but to comply with the ruling, he said.
“Until such time, in terms of Article 81, that the Namibian parliament exercises its legislative supremacy and contradicts the Supreme Court judgment, such common law, I am afraid, shall be law to be obeyed by all natural and juristic persons in Namibia.”
Namibian renaissance
Human rights activist Linda Baumann hailed the ministry’s decision.
"This is the renaissance of being Namibian and I can now be proud to say I am Namibian.
“This was bound to happen because the Namibian government believes in the separation of powers. As much as the ministry took time to reflect on the ruling, it made this decision according to the constitution of this country," she said.
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