The effect of customary marriages certificates issued by traditional authorities in Caprivi and Kavango

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

After independence, traditional authorities did not receive any guidance about their role in the new Namibia. They were left to operate as before. They continued to hold court, to allocate land and to perform other tasks. What changed was that there was uncertainty for traditional authorities as to how they should work. This affected in particular the administration of justice in traditional courts. However, the government realized that there had to be some kind of framework for traditional authorities. In 1995 the Traditional Authorities Act was passed by Parliament. The 1995 Act was replaced by the Traditional Authorities Act 25 of 2000. The 2000 Act provides for establishment, composition and defines the powers, duties and functions of traditional authorities. Section 3 of the Act outlines the powers, duties and functions of traditional authorities. Section 3 (3) (c) gives traditional authorities the power to make laws. In terms of these powers, duties and functions provided by the Act, traditional authorities in Caprivi and Kavango have introduced a law of giving customary marriage certificates to bring customary law marriages in par with civil law marriages. Many have benefited from these customary marriage certificates. Most significantly, the rudiments of the problem of this paper lie in the issuing of customary marriages certificates by traditional authorities in Caprivi and Kavango. This is with regard to the criteria used in issuing the marriage certificate: the marriage certificate is issued even where a husband takes more than one wife whereas the majority of Caprivi and Kavango communities are opposed to the issuing of the marriage certificate where the husband takes more than one wife. The contention is that, such issuing discriminates women. The certificate is also issued where one spouse is deceased, which entails that the issuing of customary marriage certificates in Caprivi and Kavango needs regulation.The crux of this paper is to look at the process under which these marriage certificates and the response of people in Caprivi and Kavango to the issuing of these certificates. The aim is to find out if these customary marriage certificates are effective and if they need regulation looking at how they are structured and the way under which they are issued