Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has acknowledged a complaint from the Landless Peoples Movement (LPM) for not registering inmates.
The LPM’s spokesperson, Lifalaza Simataa wrote to the ECN on Monday that the electoral body is excluding Namibians who are incarcerated from registering for voter cards.
Simataa stated that every eligible Namibian should have the opportunity to participate in their democratic rights.
The ECN’s mandate is to ensure that all Namibians have the ability to register to vote.
“This unfair and intentional exclusion of inmates is robbing these Namibians of their democratic rights, further dehumanising and excluding them from society. As a government, we must ensure that we do not harm the human rights of any Namibian. Inmates are unable to leave correctional institutions to register to vote. Therefore, it is pivotal for ECN to be the institution that provides them with the means to register,” he expressed.
Simataa added that the lacklustre performance of the ECN continues to be a concern, as very little is being done in the wake of voters’ education, registration requirements, and now the active exclusion of inmates, with only less than two weeks of registration left and no extension in sight.
“We need the ECN to immediately act upon its mandate and employ various interventions to best mitigate the situation,” he pleaded.
According to ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka, voter registration points have been installed in every centre where incarcerated people live.
These included police holding cells or correctional facilities across the country.
Siluka said some of the registration points are temporary, depending on the population in the area.
“As a commission, we are assessing the situation on the ground, and we have sent out a team to all 14 regions since we received the letter from LPM. We don’t want to leave anyone behind, we want to make every eligible person registered, even with the limited resources we are using,” said Siluka.
The spokesperson of the Namibia Correctional Services, Deputy Commissioner John Kambibi, said inmates have been registering since the exercise started last month.
“It’s not true that inmates are not being registered; it is a normal thing that happens wherever there is registration of voters. Both female and male offenders have always been given the opportunity to register,” clarified Kambibi.
