Soini Nampala
The Constitution and Supreme Law of the Republic of Namibia contain a chapter on the Principles of State Policy, articulated in Article 95, with a key focus on the “Promotion of the Welfare of the People”. This chapter and article empower every Namibian to influence government policy by debating and scrutinising its decisions.
The word “democracy” has been so misused to the point where it has almost lost its true meaning. In its basic sense, democracy refers to a government that is ruled by the people through their elected representatives. This means that the people choose, through elections, who should lead national governance. However, many people are only familiar with national elections, which are the culmination of different political parties contesting for presidential, National Assembly, Regional Council, and Local Authority Council seats. Many remain unaware of the foundational elections that begin at the political party level, where leaders are selected through votes and advanced to contest national, regional, and local authority elections.
Elections at the political party level are among the most crucial stages in the composition of national, regional, and local authority leadership because they determine who gets the opportunity to be voted into government under the ticket of political parties. At this stage, elections within parties are often conducted autonomously, without independent supervision, compliance checks on party rules and regulations, or a full audit of the electoral process to verify whether democracy has been respected, protected, and upheld.
For those outside the walls of politics and not privy to the internal affairs of political parties, it may appear on the surface that all is well and under control. However, what happens behind the scenes often contradicts that impression. There are widespread allegations of extreme abuse of power and ultra vires conduct within political parties and their wings during internal elections.
Such practices include withholding election information from broader membership until the last minute; changing election rules without prior notice, holding secret meetings, bribing delegates who are entrusted to protect and defend the people’s democratic power, hosting parallel or duplicate elections to establish competing structures intended to delegitimise constitutional structures, ignoring petitions from disgruntled members, and allowing culprits to contest despite serious allegations against them.
These illegalities are often committed to manipulate the outcome of internal elections and to serve the interests of a minority rather than the collective will of the people. The growing list of concerns surrounding internal party elections has become a matter of national concern.
These concerns suggest that constitutional democracy is, at times, hijacked from the people. In simple terms, the people’s power to decide who should govern them is undermined through deliberate and systematic manipulation.
The concerns raised further demonstrate that the people’s power to rule is taken away without meaningful recourse because political parties operate with significant autonomy. As a result, even when complaints are lodged, parties may choose either to respond or to ignore them entirely.
These cracks within the political system suggest that some leaders who eventually ascend to national, regional, and local authority positions are effectively imposed upon the people rather than democratically chosen. Such leaders may rise through manipulated processes characterised by bribery, violations of electoral rules, and other irregularities.
The prevalence of corruption at national, regional, and local levels can, in many ways, be viewed as a consequence of a weakened and hijacked democracy, a democracy that has not been prudently managed or protected at its foundational stage.
This article seeks to highlight that when democracy is not upheld and defended within political parties, there is a pressing need to regulate political party administration, particularly around elections.
The days when the Electoral Commission merely received candidate names should be reconsidered. For Namibia to ensure that democracy is genuinely upheld at the party level, the government, through Parliament, must urgently enact laws that oversee the conduct of internal party elections, starting from the announcement of elections to the implementation of the entire process.
Such measures are necessary to ensure that democracy produces leaders chosen by the people, rather than leaders imposed upon them.
One of the biggest weapons used in the hijacking of democracy is bribery, commonly referred to as “brown envelopes”. The time has come for Namibia to treat political bribery with the seriousness it deserves. The government, through Parliament, must enact laws that criminalise bribery in politics for both the giver and the receiver.
Political parties currently possess broad powers to abuse or violate their own rules and regulations because many of their technical and administrative affairs remain largely unregulated.
The primary command of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, the Supreme Law of the land, is to defend, protect, and uphold the Constitution. Yet, in some political party structures, the opposite appears to occur. Instead of defending, protecting, and upholding democracy, actions are taken that undermine constitutional principles.
There is therefore a genuine need for government, through Parliament, to establish a commission with powers to supervise and oversee internal political party elections in order to genuinely defend and protect democracy.
This troubling paradigm will only cease through decisive intervention and a paradigm shift by Parliament in enacting new policies that safeguard Namibia’s democracy. Over to you, our law-making institution, Parliament.
