Ester Mbathera & Martin Endjala
Political Analyst Rui Tyitende has described the ongoing presidential and national assembly elections as the worst in the history of post-Apartheid Namibia.
“Considering the widespread chaos across the polling stations, one can only deduce that this was either choreographed chaos or gross incompetence, or a combination of both,” he said.
The ECN leadership informed the public that they were ready for the elections but the evidence suggests otherwise.
On election day many people could not cast their votes because of many logistical issues at polling stations.
“It appears as if they prepared everything this week, or outsourced this entire process to the government of Zimbabwe or North Korea. If they have any shred of integrity, they should resign immediately and issue a public apology for violating the constitutional rights of so many Namibians who were unable to vote on account of structural bottlenecks and manufactured incompetence. If they do not resign, they should be fired,” he said.
On Thursday evening the ECN announced the extension of the elections to 29 till 30 November from 07h00 to 21h00.
Continued voting will only take place at these selected polling stations. (Pictured)
According to the ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua, the identified polling stations have been selected with reference to the facts available to the commission, which indicate that voters may have been deprived of the right to vote and that deprivation may not be immaterial to the outcome of the election.
“The Commission has taken all precautions to ensure that the remaining polling stations and all attending voters were given the full opportunity and the required time to exercise their right to vote. The existing counting process will continue, and the results will be made known in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act of 2014,” she said.
Nghikembua said the decision was taken after the commission made a recommendation to President Nangolo Mbumba to take the required steps to enable the continuation of the election in identified polling stations.
“In line with the commission’s obligation to provide every registered voter with a full opportunity to exercise his/her right to vote, and after having taken into consideration the complaints lodged, the commission decided to recommend to President Mbumba to take the required steps to enable the continuation of the election in identified polling stations,” she said.
She said a proclamation will be issued in this regard.
The commission said it has taken all precautions to ensure that the remaining polling stations and all attending voters were given the full opportunity and the required time to exercise their right to vote.
The existing counting process will continue, and the results will be made known in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act of 2014.
Nghikembua said that with the extension of the polling, the initial announcement of the results on 30 November will no longer apply, and will provide the exact date at a later stage.
The commission’s chief electoral and referenda Peter Shaama, said it has rectified concerns raised in regards to the Voters Registration Number (VRN) of a similar number being issued to a different person.
The commission insisted that it remains a trusted entity and remains committed to remaining transparent and accountable to the public.
She was responding to concerns raised by political parties and the media due to its lack of communication.
The results of the polling stations will be counted and dealt with separately as part of the electoral results. However, with respect to the mentioned polling stations, the final results will be calculated together with the results already made known, and there will be no public holiday for the voting two days.
She also stated that the commission has, in the meantime, done its best to establish the number of remaining ballot papers that will be distributed to polling stations in six constituencies.
