The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS) has urged the public to seek information from official sources and warned against the spread of misinformation regarding citizenship and national documents.
The appeal follows a clarification by the ministry on misinformation and misleading claims on social media regarding the issuance of Namibian national documents and allegations of the granting of citizenship to foreign nationals who do not qualify for such status.
In a statement, the ministry clarified that every application for Namibian citizenship undergoes a rigorous legal assessment and verification process, adhering to constitutional and statutory requirements.
It said that no person may obtain citizenship or national documents unless they have satisfied the requirements prescribed by law.
The Ministry further clarified that being born in Namibia does not automatically qualify a person for citizenship.
According to the requirements, at least one parent must either be a Namibian citizen or have been ordinarily resident in Namibia at the time of the person's birth, provided they were not diplomats, foreign government representatives, members of a foreign military or security force, or illegal immigrants.
Foreign nationals seeking citizenship through naturalisation must have lived lawfully and continuously in Namibia for at least ten years and satisfy other legal requirements relating to character, security and health.
The ministry also addressed concerns surrounding the old South West Africa identity documents, stating that these documents do not qualify as proof of Namibian citizenship.
This is because the SWA IDs were issued to residents of South West Africa's territory regardless of citizenship status.
The Ministry also noted that the 2024 mass registration campaign aimed to identify and register individuals whose citizenship or civil status required verification.
It added that people who registered during the campaign but did not meet the current legal requirements for citizenship will be recorded in a dedicated register pending the enactment and implementation of legislation dealing with statelessness and status regularisation.
The ministry said the government remains committed to addressing statelessness through the proposed Statelessness Determination and Protection Bill.
The Bills seek to establish procedures for identifying, protecting and legally recognising stateless persons in Namibia.
The ministry highlighted that the Regularisation of Status of Certain Residents of Namibia, known as the Descendants and Foreign Spouses Act of 2024, was enacted to establish a lawful process for qualifying long-term residents, along with their descendants and foreign spouses, to regularise their immigration and civil status.