Male MPs get Zuma-ed up

WINDHOEK – Parliamentarians in the National Assembly (NA) were informed by a fellow MP that the law of nature dictates that a man can marry two women but that the opposite violates the same law.

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) MP Phillemon Moongo had parliamentarians in stitches when he made these remarks in the National Assembly on Tuesday. Female MPs objected furiously. Debate on the Second Namibian Constitution Amendment Bill saw some male parliamentarians argue that customary laws permit men to marry more than one woman.This prompted Justice Minister Pendukeni Ithana-Iivula to ask whether there could be equality in such a marriage.Works Minister Helmut Angula said as there are more women than men in Namibia, customary marriages allow men to marry more than one wife.This was just before Congress of Democrats (CoD) MP Elma Dienda wanted to know whether Namibian men would be able to ‘handle’ all the women in the country because of their predominant numbers.At one stage Information and Communication Technology Minister Joel Kaapanda interjected that all parties involved are equal in both polygamous and monogamous marriages.* Meanwhile, a report out of Harare says that having multiple sexual partners has become the major driver of new HIV infections and the biggest obstacle in fighting the pandemic in southern Africa.Caroline Majonga, the programme manager for Action, an HIV Non-Governmental Organisation told participants at a one-day workshop of the One Love Campaign that the habit of having multiple concurrent partners (MPC) had become prevalent in the region.’Evidence shows that having multiple concurrent sexual partners is one of the major drivers of HIV-AIDS with more people in our region involved than anywhere else,’ she said. OneLove is a southern African communication campaign to reduce multiple partners.Majonga said the habit needed to be targeted and was part of behaviour change strategies being adopted by the region.’OneLove represents a significant departure from a simple ‘ABC’ approach. It deals with the complexities of relationships and gender and culture tackling the underlying drivers of the epidemic,’ she said.’Loving someone means protecting and respecting them by not having another secret partner,’ she added.Majonga said the campaign would challenge harmful cultural practices such as girl pledging, create public debate on gender impact on the epidemic and get people talking about sexual choices and practices.National Aids Council (NAC) chief executive officer, Tapuwa Magure said the ‘overall goal of the campaign was to decrease new HIV infections’. OneLove is being rolled out in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. – Nampa-Sapa