Namibia - December 2024

On 30 December, Namibia gazetted a new law outlawing same-sex marriage. The Marriage Act, which was signed by President Nangolo Mbumba on 2 October 2024, defines marriage as ‘a legal union…between two persons of the opposite sex’ and explicitly excludes recognition of same sex marriages, wherever they were concluded. While Namibian law did not previously recognise same-sex marriages concluded in the country, the Marriage Act appears to contradict a May 2023 Supreme Court ruling which, on constitutional grounds, recognised such marriages when concluded abroad. By defining sex solely as assigned at birth, the law also excludes the marriage rights of heterosexual transgender persons. An official who conducts a marriage that contravenes these provisions is liable to a prison sentence of up to four years and/or a fine. As of mid-January 2025, the government had not announced when the Marriage Act would come into force, as the legislation requires.

Sources: Marriage Act, The Namibian, International IDEA, Mamba Online, Namibian Sun.