Single mothers welcome government ruling allowing birth registration without both parents

Single mothers have welcomed the government’s decision to allow a child’s birth to be registered without both parents being present.

Although the law allows a child to be registered without both parents present, some mothers say officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security have told them they cannot register their babies without the fathers.

This has led to delays in children’s school enrolment and access to healthcare.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said last Thursday that both parents are not required to register a child, noting that currently, 13.2% of babies in Namibia have not been registered.

“Mothers, do not leave the hospital without registering your baby; absent fathers are no longer an excuse not to register the baby. You do not need to pay anything,” she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, speaking at the opening of a home affairs office at Nkurenkuru in the Kavango West region, said birth registration should not be more than 12 months late.

Some mothers have told The Namibian they were not aware they could register their babies without their fathers.

Single mother Ndapandula Mulyehi (27) says the awareness will ease the burden many women face when uncooperative fathers delay the process. Mulyehi says when she visited the ministry to register her son, she was sent back to look for the father.

Mulyehi says her son was born on 30 April 2018, when she was 19. The father initially denied the pregnancy, making it difficult for her to register the child.

Although he later acknowledged the child, he never accompanied her to register the birth, forcing her to wait until the child was older.

She says she could not register her son for kindergarten, open a savings account or complete other processes requiring proof of birth.

Mulyehi says awareness of the existing law would spare many women similar struggles.

Another single mother, Ailli Shimooshili (24), says her daughter (10) carries her surname because the child’s father was absent.

She says her family decided in 2016 that her child should be registered immediately to prevent future complications.

“I could not leave the hospital without my daughter having a birth certificate because we could not trust the father to come through,” she says, adding that raising awareness would help mothers avoid “baby daddy dramas”.

Anna Mooya (45) says her son (10) only received a birth certificate after seven years of legal battles with his father.

“You go through a lot because the father refuses to cooperate. My child was seven years old before he got his birth certificate. I had to go to court, and only after years of legal action did I finally manage to get it,” she says.

Mooya says the process has been exhausting, with the father often ignoring calls or delaying action.

“It’s not easy for single mothers to force the father to register a child. Every woman should be able to do it alone if the father doesn’t want to,” she says.

National Organisation of Parents in Education interim president Mbangu Hawanga said a birth certificate is key to accessing essential services such as education and healthcare.

“We remind all parents that registering a newborn is not just a procedural task but a God-given responsibility and a sacred assignment. It is highly irresponsible to neglect this mandatory duty,” he says.

Hawanga calls on the government to provide financial aid for DNA testing for cases where biological parentage is uncertain.

Lawyer Wesele Chikwililwa believes registering a birth without the other parent present violates the absent parent’s rights.

“If the father later wants to be part of the child’s life they have to go to court and establish paternity,” he says.

Although surnames can be changed later, he says it creates problems for parents, who may end up fighting over their rights to the child.

Progressive Men Empowerment Organisation of Namibia secretary general Fillemon Amoolongo says the new measure should not be seen as shutting fathers out.

“There are many men who want to be present in their children’s lives. This decision should not be interpreted as undermining good fathers, but as ensuring that a child is not left undocumented because one parent is absent or unwilling,” he says.

He says many fathers are equally frustrated when disputes between parents are allowed to affect the child’s future.

“A birth certificate is not about the parents’ conflict, it is about the child’s rights and future opportunities,” he said.

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