Stefanus Nashama
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) faces criticism over claims that it bypassed the public procurement process for the printing of ballot papers for the November 2024 elections.
The Affirmative Repositioning movement’s (AR) leader, Job Amupanda and the Landless People’s Movement’s (LPM) leader, Bernadus Swartbooi questioned the transparency of the tendering process while at the same time, accusing the ECN of secretly favouring Swapo-affiliated companies.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Commission met with the members of the Political Party Liaison Committee to provide an update on the procurement process for the printing of ballot papers for the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Through his social media platforms, Amupanda accused the ECN of secretly awarding the tender to print the election ballot papers to Swapo-affiliated companies.
“I understand that the ECN and Swapo’s finance minister want to ignore a public procurement process and a transparent tendering system to print election ballots. They want to appoint a company secretly without following a public tender process,” stated Amupanda.
He insisted that this meant that a Swapo-connected company would print the ballot papers.
Amupanda said his party has no space to tolerate corruption of that kind.
“When liberation movements start losing power, they tend to rely on mafia styles like in Zimbabwe. We won’t allow our democracy to be stolen by Swapo, ECN and Zimbabwe’s ZANU-PF,” he stated.
Addressing the media, Swartbooi said ballot papers are an important part of what would determine the credibility of the elections.
He cited the ECN’s failure to follow the procurement process, stating that the election rigging has already begun.
“The ECN has failed to put an advertisement out for any interested company. LPM will not dance to rigged election results,” said Swartbooi.
He accused Zimbambwe of assisting the liberation movement in Southern Africa to rig election results.
He stated that the ECN is deliberately causing delays by conducting the advertisement for tenders in an open manner.
He said the commission should take the blame for the mess it has created.
A statement issued by the ECN Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer, Peter Shaama, refuted the claims, stating that the procurement process was conducted through international open bidding as required by law.
“The commission hereby informs electoral stakeholders and the general public at large that there is no crisis in so far as the execution of the electoral calendar is concerned. We appreciate your support and understanding as key stakeholders, as the commission is still seized with the procurement process. Needless to say, the commission remains steadfast in its mission to deliver on its constitutional mandate,” he said.
Shaama added that the commission asserts that all electoral activities, inclusive of the procurement of the requisite materials, remain on track.
“The commission is resolute in ensuring that the prospective bidder meets all necessary requirements as per the bid specifications,” he said.
