Minimum age for IDs lowered to 14

The minimum age for obtaining an identification document (ID) has been lowered from 16 to 14 in the new Civil Registration and Identification Bill.

Deputy home affairs and immigration minister, Dr Daniel Kashikola, said this in his introduction statement on the Bill in the National Assembly.

“At 14, a person’s biometrics are well developed and therefore fingerprints may be taken at this age. This move will enable children in schools to get their IDs early enough before their national examinations.”

He added that this is also done with the foresight that other biometrics such as iris and facial recognition, which are possible at a younger age, will be integrated into the identity management system.

According to him, current legislative provisions do not adequately provide for the prevailing needs of the current civil registration and identity management environment in Namibia.

Kashikola said the Civil Registration and Identification Bill will amalgamate the Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act, the Aliens Act, the Identification Act and certain provisions of the Marriage Act.

Objectives

Some of the objectives of the Bill are to provide a national civil registration system for the notification, registration and certification of births, stillbirths, adoptions, deaths, name changes, marriages and divorces and for the issuing of IDs.

It will also provide for the keeping of registers for recording and preserving information relating to civil events; regulate the issuing of civil event certificates; provide a system of e-notices to certain civil events, and provide a system to assist people who lack national documentation.

Kashikola said while IDs are currently issued to Namibian permanent residents and refugees aged 16 and older, the Bill expands the scope to cover foreigners in Namibia on permits longer than 12 months and any other categories the minister may prescribe, such as asylum-seekers and protected persons.

According to the deputy minister, one of the issues they experience is people changing their dates of birth as they please.

“Some people change their date of birth when they want to retire or when they do not want to retire.”

Sometimes the change of age is just to obtain a certain benefit, he said.

The Bill makes provision for an age determination committee, as a statuary body, to deal with matters like this. The committee will be empowered to determine individuals’ age from available documentation and evidence.

Cause of death

Meanwhile, the Bill will also address death certificates.

“We do not issue death certificates. This causes problems and increases fraud as the letters have no security features and can be forged. The Bill will change this. It will be possible to issue an official copy of the death certificate to institutions.”

Kashikola added that in terms of the Bill, death certificates will not state the cause of death. This is to protect the dignity and privacy of the deceased and their family members.

He further noted that specific issues excluded from this Bill include same-sex marriages, automatic outof community of property marriages for so-called ‘natives’ north of the police zone (otherwise known as red line marriages), statelessness and recognition or appointment of marriage officers.