Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, and Safety and Security, Dr. Albert Kawana, has yesterday tabled the Regularisation of Status of Certain Residents of Namibia, Their Descendants, and Foreign Spouses Bill, which will see those who hold South West Africa Identification Documents (ID’s) attain citizenship.
“The Bill is aimed at regularising the status of holders of South West Africa Identification Documents (SWA IDs) who are unable to acquire Namibian citizenship under the current legislative framework, their descendants, and their foreign spouses. The Bill provides for a process for these categories of persons to acquire Namibian citizenship. The Bill provides that SWA ID holders will acquire citizenship by naturalisation; their descendants who were born outside South West Africa/Namibia will acquire Namibian citizenship by descent, while those who were born in South West Africa/Namibia will acquire Namibian citizenship by birth; their foreign spouses will acquire Namibian citizenship by marriage,” Kawana said.
He added that Namibia still has people who are in possession of South West Africa Identification Documents (SWA IDs) and who are unable to obtain citizenship due to various legal impediments, such as the submission of a police clearance certificate from the country of origin as required by Section 5(1)(d) of the Namibian Citizenship Act, 1990.
“These people have lived in Namibia all along, have not returned to their supposed country of origin since they arrived in Namibia, and would, therefore, not have records in their countries of origin,” Dr. Kawana said.
He added that they are required to submit 10 years on a Permanent Residence Permit (PRP) as required by Article 4(5)(b) of the Namibian Constitution read together with the Namibian Citizenship Act of 1990 and Sections 24 and 26 of the Immigration Control Act of 1993.
“Permanent residence is defined in the Immigration Control Act of 1993 to be a certificate issued in terms of section 26 of that Act. A SWA ID is excluded because, by definition, a SWA ID was proof of residence, not permanent residence. Despite these legal impediments, which cannot be addressed in the Namibian Citizenship Act of 1990, we are all cognizant of the fact that it has been 34 years since Namibia gained independence. The category of persons who are affected have been in Namibia since before independence and have no other home except Namibia. Some arrived in Namibia in 1978, making their residence in Namibia close to 50 years. Our records indicate that 600,000 cards were issued between 1979 and 1990,” Dr. Kawana said.
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