Khoekhoegowab: Home affairs working on sorting out clicks, special characters

The ministry of home affairs, immigration, safety and security is currently working with the University of Namibia to identify all the clicks and special characters used in Namibian languages that have yet to be translated into Unicode standard representation.This was confirmed by executive director Etienne Maritz, who said it should be noted that some clicks and characters have already been translated.Maritz was responding to an article published in Namibian Sun on Friday.The ministry&#039;s name registration system last week sparked uproar by allegedly disallowing names with click sounds in official birth certificate registrations.The decision, aimed at streamlining administrative processes and maintaining uniformity, has come under heavy scrutiny for its potential infringement on cultural identity and diversity.This after Ti-a Barbara Bella Harases, a name that holds cultural significance in the Nama community, was rejected by home affairs officials.Ti-a&#039;s parents expressed concern over the erasure of their cultural identity and the importance of preserving indigenous languages.No discriminationThe ministry said it at no point banned the use of click sounds in names. According to Maritz, it has never been the policy of government to discriminate against any section of society.In Ti-a’s case, he said the complainant - who indicated that she is the mother of the child whose first name was wrongly spelled on her identity document (ID) - visited the ministry on 24 August to correct her daughter&#039;s ID.“It must be noted that as far as the birth certificate of the applicant is concerned, the name was correctly spelled since the birth certificate is handwritten as opposed to the ID card. The machine requires the clicks and special characters to be translated. Therefore, there was no misspelling of the name on the birth certificate,” Maritz explained.He said after the matter was brought to the ministry’s attention, a meeting was convened with the supplier of the machines used to print IDs to ensure that all the missing characters used in Namibia are included.According to him, the complainant was “unfortunately not satisfied” despite the ministry&#039;s assurance that the matter would be attended to and decided to approach the media.“We assure the nation that the ministry is fully committed to comply with the requirements of the Namibian Constitution and other laws of our republic. We therefore urge the Namibian nation to remain calm, to maintain peace, unity of purpose and stability.”

Khoekhoegowab: Home affairs working on sorting out clicks, special characters

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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Khoekhoegowab: Home affairs working on sorting out clicks, special characters

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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