Niël Terblanché
Loide Kasingo, the Deputy Speaker of the Namibian Parliament had her hands full to keep order in the house during a notice of motion brought by Jerry Ekandjo against same-sex marriages.
The veteran lawmaker and a member of the Constituent Assembly was very agitated about the fact that a notice of motion he intended to bring to the Parliament was removed from the schedule without his consent.
“I had to spend several hours with various officials to get the motion back on the agenda,” he told the house.
When prompted by the Deputy Speaker to proceed with his motion the veteran politician had the house in stitches when he said that Namibia cannot be allowed to be transformed into a republic of homosexuals.
“I went to Robben Island at the age of 26. I spent my entire youth being incarcerated and not once did I advocate for homosexuality even though we were chained together while doing forced labour,” he said.
Ekandjo stated that Namibia’s Independence did not come on a silver platter and that all the sacrifices made by freedom fighters will be obliterated if same-sex marriages are ever allowed in Namibia.
“In 1989 there was a debate in the Constituent Assembly if we should allow homosexuality or not. We debated and we said no. The founding fathers said no. All the chapters of the Namibian Constitution state that the people shall have certain rights. When it came to same-sex marriage we did not allow it,” he told the Parliament.
He was of the opinion that the three pillars of government in Namibia cannot amend the supreme law of the country.
“The Judiciary should adhere to the supreme law of the land. The Namibian Constitution should lead all decisions and judgements,” he said.
He read from Article 14 of the Namibian Constitution and said that men and women of full age without any limitation shall have the right to marry and to have a family. Married couples shall be entitled to equal rights during marriage and its dissolution thereof.
“The family is a fundamental group and is entitled to protection by the state,” he said.
He said Namibians did not vote on same-sex marriages and added that homosexuality is a bad omen.
“We are not a republic of homosexuals. We can not in our lifetime allow it. If we do, the people outside will push us out. We can never ever allow it,” Ekandjo reiterated.
The veteran lawmaker referred to bulls mating with each other and added that people will never eat the meat of a bull that was mounted by another bull after which the Deputy Speaker had her hands full to restore order in the house. “We humans went to the moon. We have satellites in space. We don’t need this because it will denigrate us as a species,” he said.
He stated that Namibia is not subject to the laws of other countries.
“What these countries do, is their business. Nobody should be allowed to tell us what to do in our own country because we are not subject to their laws,” he stated.
Ekandjo moved that the house urgently come out with a private members bill that must be tabled in August this year to challenge the recent judgement of the Supreme Court.
