WALVIS BAY – The Electoral Commission of Namibia will employ 145 polling officials for the Swakopmund constituency by-election.
The polling officials will make up 29 teams, of which three will be mobile for the by-election that is expected to take place on 12 August.
Seven political parties and one independent candidate will contest for the Swakopmund constituency job after the position was left vacant by former councillor Ciske Smith-Howard who was expelled by the Independent Patriots for Change in May this year.
ECN chief electoral officer Theo Mujoro in a statement on Sunday indicated ECN will now proceed with the printing of the ballot papers as per the guidelines of the Public Procurement Act.
“The awarding of the bid will take place on 8 July and all nominated candidates will be invited to verify the final ballot paper sample on 29 July,” Mujoro said.
According to him, all sensitive election material will be dispatched latest 6 August from Windhoek under strict security and escort of the Namibian police to Swakopmund.
Mujoro added ECN will embark on voter and civic education campaigns in an effort to boost voter participation in order to increase the voter turnout for the by-election.
At least 36 997 residents are eligible to vote in Swakopmund.
The nomination for candidates was officially closed on Saturday, resulting in the seven political parties and one independent candidate making the final cut.
Mineworker Willard Narib will stand as the only independent candidate, while Rodger Dausab will represent the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) and Leilani Pashecka will represent the Popular Democratic Movement
(PDM).
Current Swakopmund mayor Louisa Kativa will represent the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), while Swapo will also be represented by one of the former mayors of Swakopmund, Nehemiah Solomon.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate is Zerolda Dantu, while Bernhard von Seydlitz is the United People Movement (UPM) candidate.
The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has fielded Hilaria Musheka as its candidate.
ECN coordinator for Erongo Amos Nguaiko told New Era the registration process was very slow in the beginning but picked up during the last week when all political parties handed in their nominations.
He added ECN did not experience any challenges during the nominations and registration process.
“We explained the whole process to all of them when they collected the forms and also double-checked the forms with them when handed in, just to make sure everything is in order,” Nguaiko explained.
-edeklerk@nepc.com.na