While polygamous marriages are not legally recognized under the civil marriage

Civil marriage

Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...

 laws of Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

, a bill was successfully passed in 2003, based on the model in South Africa, which recognizes polygamous unions under customary law; affording a generous amount of benefits to polygamous unions, ranging from inheritance rights to child custody. It has been estimated that nearly one in seven women in Namibia live in polygamous relationships.

Since May 2009, a debate concerning legalizing civil polygamous marriages has been ongoing throughout the parliament in Namibia. The bill has faced both praise and fierce opposition. There have also been past attempts to outlaw polygamous marriages (including under customary law), which have received about an equal reaction. A proposed bill that would have provided pension benefits to the spouses of a deceased polygamous president was voted down in 2004.