Children bill under the microscope

THE Children’s Status Bill in its current form goes against its own principle of treating children equally regardless of whether their parents are married or not, the National Council heard yesterday.

The Council has been debating for the last two days whether to pass the proposed bill and make it law, or to send it back to the National Assembly to eliminate a number of loopholes. “Today I am speaking to you from the eyes of a child,” a school-uniform-clad Vice Chairperson Margreth Mensah-Williams told the House of Review.”It is worrisome that the proposed bill treats children differently and discriminately according to their status whilst our Supreme Law [Constitution] provides that all citizens of the Republic of Namibia are equal irrespective of creed, race, sex, religion, or origin,” Mensah-Williams said.Agreeing with the findings of a NC Standing Committee report submitted to the house on Tuesday, the Vice Chairperson objected to the definition of a child in the bill.At present, the bill defines a child as “a person born outside marriage who is under the age of 18 years”.By defining a child as someone born outside of marriage, Mensah-Williams said, the bill does not address children born in wedlock, and thus discriminates against them.She added that by limiting the age of a child to 18 years, a gap would be created for young people aged 19 and 20, as the age of majority in Namibia is 21 years.Mensah-Williams further disagreed with a clause in the current bill which states that a man would be presumed the father of a child if he was married to or cohabiting with the mother 12 months before the child’s birth.”As far as I know,” she said, “the time span between conception and delivery has never exceeded nine months in normal circumstances,” she said.The committee’s recommendation was for the bill to read that the father was married to or cohabiting with the mother “at the approximate time of conception” rather than “12 months before the birth of the child.”Another member who supported the recommendations of the committee was Kavango MP Frieda Siwombe.Siwombe suggested that the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare and other stakeholders should organise workshops and seminars across the country to explain to people the importance of drafting wills, and to educate them on the dynamics of marrying in and out of community of property.”I’ve observed that some marriage officers do not explain the legal understanding behind marriages because in most cases it creates unnecessary havoc over inheritance when a partner dies and leaves the other one behind,” she said.The bill currently grants custody of a child to the surviving parent if a parent with sole custody dies.The committee has stated that this might have the undesirable effect of an absent or uninvolved parent becoming the sole guardian of a child, whether or not this would be in the interests of the child.Discussion on the bill will continue today.”Today I am speaking to you from the eyes of a child,” a school-uniform-clad Vice Chairperson Margreth Mensah-Williams told the House of Review. “It is worrisome that the proposed bill treats children differently and discriminately according to their status whilst our Supreme Law [Constitution] provides that all citizens of the Republic of Namibia are equal irrespective of creed, race, sex, religion, or origin,” Mensah-Williams said.Agreeing with the findings of a NC Standing Committee report submitted to the house on Tuesday, the Vice Chairperson objected to the definition of a child in the bill. At present, the bill defines a child as “a person born outside marriage who is under the age of 18 years”.By defining a child as someone born outside of marriage, Mensah-Williams said, the bill does not address children born in wedlock, and thus discriminates against them.She added that by limiting the age of a child to 18 years, a gap would be created for young people aged 19 and 20, as the age of majority in Namibia is 21 years.Mensah-Williams further disagreed with a clause in the current bill which states that a man would be presumed the father of a child if he was married to or cohabiting with the mother 12 months before the child’s birth.”As far as I know,” she said, “the time span between conception and delivery has never exceeded nine months in normal circumstances,” she said.The committee’s recommendation was for the bill to read that the father was married to or cohabiting with the mother “at the approximate time of conception” rather than “12 months before the birth of the child.”Another member who supported the recommendations of the committee was Kavango MP Frieda Siwombe.Siwombe suggested that the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare and other stakeholders should organise workshops and seminars across the country to explain to people the importance of drafting wills, and to educate them on the dynamics of marrying in and out of community of property.”I’ve observed that some marriage officers do not explain the legal understanding behind marriages because in most cases it creates unnecessary havoc over inheritance when a partner dies and leaves the other one behind,” she said.The bill currently grants custody of a child to the surviving parent if a parent with sole custody dies.The committee has stated that this might have the undesirable effect of an absent or uninvolved parent becoming the sole guardian of a child, whether or not this would be in the interests of the child.Discussion on the bill will continue today.