Couples who have not verified their marriage records have been urged to visit their nearest Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security office to reduce travel costs.
This comes after the ministry revealed that some Namibian marriages remain unregistered, since marriage books are held at churches and magistrates’ courts, leaving couples struggling to verify their marital status.
Home affairs minister Lucia Iipumbu on Thursday responded to questions from the leader of the official opposition, Imms Nashinge, explaining that the problem emerged during the digitalisation of records, launched in 2021.
She said some historical records were still held in South Africa, with efforts underway to retrieve and update them.
“Some marriage records are often submitted late or never reach the ministry, despite copies being required within three days of the ceremony.
“Some records arrive weeks, months or even years later,” she said.
Iipumbu said the gaps have affected service delivery, including applications for duplicate marriage certificates, changes to marital status, death-related registrations and spousal pension payouts.
The ministry’s current system, she added, relies on physical submission of marriage registers and does not track whether records have been delivered.
She said the directive urging married couples to verify their registration, first issued last year and reported again last month, was necessary to update the national registry.
“The ministry acknowledges that asking the public to come forth is cumbersome and creates a burden, but we are pleading because we must keep our records updated,” she said.
