Thread: Namibia allow dual citizenship

Originally Posted by Comrade_007

I think there is a perception on the part of some people in the government that if you have two citizenships your loyalty to either one or the other country is somehow diluted, or can be questioned. And of course there is a purely political motive is well: It is easier to control and coerce someone who only has one citizenship. On the other hand it is a useful tool to control immigration.

The reality, of course, is that the benefits of allowing people to have two valid citizenships far outweigh the downsides, especially in open, democratic and tolerant societies as ours. It gives people international mobility and the ability to build economic and political bridges between our country and the rest of the world. In an interconnected, increasingly borderless world such as ours I would argue that this should not be underestimated. So I think under some circumstances there is a strong case to be made for allowing dual cizitenships for us.

This is the good side...

crime and government social grants is the down side...

carrying dual citizenship should be allowed but I think there should be a means...let's say one should have stayed in the country for 7 years then you are entitled to citizenship.

What is currently happening, especially down in South Africa is that people from poorer countries are accessing SA social grants due to either fraudulent citizenship status or some other means....this is causing huge friction between the South Africans and the foreigners.

So, Namibia cannot afford to take care of an additional number of foreigners when 15% of the current populace is already taking care of 85%.....sjoe....dis darem 'n storie, ne.....

we should have been in a position to welcome destitiute forgeiners, especially african brothers and sisters. The toothless African leadership is so concerned not "to mess" in other countries political situation that those people are spilling over into our borders and all our Governments can do is kick these people out...what a shame.....what a shame...

Let's hope this settles the matter. Judge Dave Smuts handed down an order in the High Court that dual citizenship is legal for born Namibians and that the Namibian Citizenship Act’s section 2 (which inter alia states that no Namibian citizen may also be a citizen of a foreign country) does indeed not apply to persons who hold Namibian citizenship by birth.

According to The Namibian's Werner Menges

the order was given in the wake of a concession from Attorney General Albert Kawana in a case in which a born Namibian, Iris le Roux, was challenging the Citizenship Act’s prohibition of dual citizenship.

In an affidavit filed with the High Court, Kawana conceded that the part of the Namibian Citizenship Act which prohibits dual citizenship does not apply to people who are Namibian citizens by birth.

Kawana noted that the Namibian Citizenship Act states that its prohibition of dual citizenship is subject to the provisions of the Act itself or “any other law”. Namibia’s Constitution would be included under “any other law”.

“Since the Namibian Constitution does not authorize the deprivation of Namibian citizenship by birth on account of the acquisition of the citizenship of any other country, section 26 of the Act does not apply to Namibian citizens by birth,” Kawana stated in the affidavit.

In terms of the Constitution, Namibian citizens by birth can only cease to be Namibian citizens if they voluntarily renounce their citizenship, Kawana also stated in the affidavit.

The Constitution expressly states that no person who is a Namibian citizen by birth or descent may be deprived of his or her citizenship through a law that provides for the loss of Namibian citizenship by persons who have acquired the citizenship of another country.

In the order given by Judge Smuts it is also declared that Le Roux is a Namibian citizenship by birth.

Le Roux sued the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, the Attorney General and Government, asking the court to issue the orders which were given yesterday, after an immigration official told her last year that she and her two daughters had to leave the country or face deportation.

After she had already filed the case in which the law on dual citizenship was being challenged, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration’s Chief of Immigration notified Le Roux in mid-December last year that she had to leave Namibia within three days, or that she could be prosecuted if she failed to comply with that order. That was after an application by her for an extension of the visitor’s entry permit on which she was in Namibia at that stage was turned down.

The orders granted by the court were not put into dispute by the three respondents.

Le Roux was born in Windhoek in 1962, completed her schooling in Namibia, and then went to South Africa to study. She later married a South African citizen and stayed in South Africa until she moved back to Namibia with her two daughters in March last year.

According to Le Roux, she is a Namibian by birth, and she has never renounced her Namibian citizenship.

Le Roux also wanted the court to declare that she is entitled to obtain the citizenship of another country without having to renounce her Namibian citizenship. This part of her application was opposed by the respondents.

On this score, Kawana said it would depend on the laws of the other country whether a Namibian citizen would have to renounce her Namibian citizenship when she obtained the citizenship of the other country. Under international law, the Namibian Government cannot interfere with the domestic laws of another sovereign state, Kawana said.

Le Roux’s lawyer, Norman Tjombe, did not press on with her application on that point.

In his ruling, Judge Smuts said he agreed with the approach followed by Judge Gerhard Maritz in July 2008 in a case in which the issue of dual citizenship first arose. In his judgement in that case, Judge Maritz reasoned that the Constitution safeguards the Namibian citizenship of people who are citizens of the country by birth or descent to such an extent that no law can be used to strip such Namibians of their citizenship.

Judge Smuts ordered the respondents to pay Le Roux’s legal costs in the case.
The Minister, Attorney General and Government were represented by Tulimeke Koita of the Office of the Government Attorney yesterday.

I live in the US and one of my goals is to become a Namibian citizen. No kidding.

However, if you are not a citizen of the US, or of Europe, it can be nearly impossible to visit here. I'd like to keep my US citizenship for travel purposes and become a citizen of Namibia, because that is where I want my home to be.

Dual citizenship would be great in my book. I've been to Namibia 4 times and hope to be there many more times as well.