Carrying ID is not the law but, if you’re wise, you will

NO LAW specifically requires Namibians to carry proof of their identity with them at all times – but if people want to make their journeys around the country smoother, they would be wise to have some form of acceptable identification on them.

This was the message from Nkrumah Mushelenga, the Deputy Director of Immigration in the Ministry of Home Affairs, yesterday when he was invited to explain the law on personal identification in Namibia. The topic of immigration officers’ insistence on seeing proof of people’s identity – a request with which many Namibians were confronted at roadblocks around the country over the Christmas season – has already formed the subject of past lawsuits for damages against Government, and featured again this week as the basis of an urgent application in the High Court in Windhoek.Norman Tjombe – a Legal Assistance Centre lawyer – brought this week’s application to the High Court.The court was asked on Wednesday to order the release of a 17-year-old boy who claims to have been born in Namibia but was still arrested as a suspected illegal immigrant last Friday.The court was informed that the 17-year-old was detained because he did not state his full name to an immigration officer at a roadblock in Ondangwa.Also, according to an affidavit sworn by his grandmother, his birth certificate did not indicate he was born at Walvis Bay, as the teenager is claimed to have stated to an immigration officer.Tjombe this week called such actions on the part of immigration officers “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional”.In a previous case, a Namibian woman won damages of N$15 000 against the Minister of Home Affairs for having been detained for 14 hours as a suspected illegal immigrant because she could not immediately show her Namibian ID to immigration officers.Mushelenga appeared to advocate a pragmatic line on the issue when he set out the legal basis on which immigration authorities’ requests for proof of identity rely.He acknowledged there is no law specifying people in Namibia must produce proof of their identity on demand.But, he added, the Identification Act of 1996 – in force since May 18 2001 – provided that a person over the age of 16 may be asked to prove his or her identity to an officer “within a reasonable time”.Mushelenga said the law allowed a person to present an identity document, a passport, or any other proof of identity issued by the State which bore his or her name and photograph.A driver’s licence was also acceptable, he said.In assessing what constituted “a reasonable time”, the officer could take down the person’s details, such as his or her address, and ask for proof of identity to be produced later.Only an officer’s suspicion that the person was an illegal immigrant or , for example, a criminal on the run might warrant an arrest, Mushelenga said.While the law does not require people to carry proof of identity with them, Mushelenga said, it would be both wise and logical to do so.He added that the attitude – of both travellers and officers – at roadblocks could lead to smoother passage.Immigration officers should be polite when requesting personal ID, but at the same time people should co-operate and not take offence when asked to prove who they were, he said.The topic of immigration officers’ insistence on seeing proof of people’s identity – a request with which many Namibians were confronted at roadblocks around the country over the Christmas season – has already formed the subject of past lawsuits for damages against Government, and featured again this week as the basis of an urgent application in the High Court in Windhoek. Norman Tjombe – a Legal Assistance Centre lawyer – brought this week’s application to the High Court. The court was asked on Wednesday to order the release of a 17-year-old boy who claims to have been born in Namibia but was still arrested as a suspected illegal immigrant last Friday. The court was informed that the 17-year-old was detained because he did not state his full name to an immigration officer at a roadblock in Ondangwa. Also, according to an affidavit sworn by his grandmother, his birth certificate did not indicate he was born at Walvis Bay, as the teenager is claimed to have stated to an immigration officer. Tjombe this week called such actions on the part of immigration officers “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional”. In a previous case, a Namibian woman won damages of N$15 000 against the Minister of Home Affairs for having been detained for 14 hours as a suspected illegal immigrant because she could not immediately show her Namibian ID to immigration officers. Mushelenga appeared to advocate a pragmatic line on the issue when he set out the legal basis on which immigration authorities’ requests for proof of identity rely. He acknowledged there is no law specifying people in Namibia must produce proof of their identity on demand. But, he added, the Identification Act of 1996 – in force since May 18 2001 – provided that a person over the age of 16 may be asked to prove his or her identity to an officer “within a reasonable time”. Mushelenga said the law allowed a person to present an identity document, a passport, or any other proof of identity issued by the State which bore his or her name and photograph. A driver’s licence was also acceptable, he said. In assessing what constituted “a reasonable time”, the officer could take down the person’s details, such as his or her address, and ask for proof of identity to be produced later. Only an officer’s suspicion that the person was an illegal immigrant or , for example, a criminal on the run might warrant an arrest, Mushelenga said. While the law does not require people to carry proof of identity with them, Mushelenga said, it would be both wise and logical to do so. He added that the attitude – of both travellers and officers – at roadblocks could lead to smoother passage. Immigration officers should be polite when requesting personal ID, but at the same time people should co-operate and not take offence when asked to prove who they were, he said.