Niël Terblanché
The low turnout of eligible voters to register for the upcoming November elections has become a significant concern, prompting President Nangolo Mbumba to call for urgent action.
During a meeting with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) at State House on Tuesday, President Mbumba stressed the importance of addressing the issue to ensure a comprehensive and credible electoral process.
Only 900 000 out of over 1.6 million eligible voters have registered.
The voter registration period ends on 1 August.
President Mbumba, along with Deputy Prime Minister John Mutorwa, expressed concerns about potential accusations of irregularities if the voter registration figures remain incomplete.
During the meeting, President Mbumba stressed the public’s concerns, including challenges related to the dissemination of information at registration points and the functionality of mobile teams, particularly in rural areas.
There have also been reports of faulty equipment affecting the registration process.
At the meeting in State House, Dr. Elsie Nghikembua, Chairperson of the ECN, explained that the general registration was planned based on the 2023 preliminary statistics provided by the Namibia Statistics Agency.
She assured the President that, despite the impossibility of extending the registration period, the ECN has reinforced its teams to carry out the process as efficiently as possible.
In response to the President’s concerns, Peter Shaama, the Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer at the ECN, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to ensuring a robust and inclusive democratic process in Namibia.
Shaama reiterated that the ECN’s participation in the meeting was driven by a dedication to addressing voter turnout challenges and working collaboratively with stakeholders to find practical solutions.
Shaama’s official statement clarified the context of the meeting, emphasising the need for constructive engagement and cooperation with various stakeholders to enhance voter registration efforts.
He stressed the importance of transparent communication with the media to reinforce trust in the electoral process.
In his statement, Shaama assured the Namibian public of the ECN’s commitment to conducting free and fair elections.
He said that with the registration period nearing its end, the commission is focused on maximising voter registration and ensuring that all eligible Namibians have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
“The urgency to improve voter registration stresses the critical nature of a comprehensive and credible electoral process, essential for the democratic integrity of Namibia,” he said.
Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda questioned the legality of the meeting, particularly Swapo Secretary General Sophia Shaningwa’s presence in the meeting at State House.
“We saw ECN officials and commissioners being questioned and interrogated by the secretary general of SWAPO, Ms Sophia Shaningwa. ECN did not object and willingly participated in this uncouth exercise. Additionally, we painfully saw how ECN commissioners and officials swallowed SWAPO SG’s interrogation and seemingly buckled under pressure from one participant in an election which ECN will administer and pretend to be neutral,” he said.
According to Amupanda, the standing arrangement is that there is a neutral platform where ECN engages with all registered political parties.
“At these platforms, invitations are sent to all, indiscriminately. This is concerning and disgusting, to say the least. We view this spectacle as not only corrupt and unlawful but an open demonstration that the very idea of impartiality on the part of ECN may actually be a hoax,” he said.
He added that the meeting called by the president in which Shaningwa was present has rendered the ECN “a corrupt statistics department of SWAPO.”
ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka said that ECN does not dictate who the President invites to his meetings.
“What the commission can unequivocally state is that it only discussed matters related to how best to enhance the voter registration rate in the remaining weeks of the voter registration period; and how best to adequately resource ECN to enable it to conduct free, fair, and credible elections,” he said.
