Eveline de Klerk
SWAKOPMUND– Swakopmund residents will be heading to the polls in August this year to elect a new Swakopmund constituency councillor to replace former Independent Patriots for Change councillor Ciske
Smith-Howard.
The position became vacant last month when Smith-Howard, who had also served as the chairperson of the Erongo regional council, was expelled from the party. She was elected into the position during the 2020 regional and local authority elections and was sworn in after securing 5 685 votes while her closest competitor, Philip Munenguni from Swapo, managed to get 3 260 votes.
According to the Electoral Act, vacant positions must be filed within 90 days after they become vacant.
Political parties yesterday when contacted indicated that they are getting themselves ready to elect their candidates who will represent the parties during the by-election.
UDF president Apius Auchab yesterday said his party will also take part. “We are ready and have a candidate too,” Auchab said.
Knowledge Ipinge from the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement also indicated that they are ready and looking forward to winning the by-election. “Our candidate is ready and has been doing ground work. So we are ready to reap the fruits by taking over the Swakopmund constituency in August,” Ipinge said.
According to the Swapo regional coordinator for Erongo, Daniel Muhuura, the party is sensitising them to see who will represent the party.
“This is a golden opportunity for us to reclaim Swakopmund. In fact, we had a fruitful meeting on Tuesday afternoon with party members in Swakopmund where we discussed the way forward. I am sure the involvement of our national leaders assigned to the region will boost the morale of our party members in Swakopmund so that we have a successful campaign and reclaim the Swakopmund constituency.”
Spokesperson for IPC Imms Nashinge also said that his party is ready to retain the constituency.
“We are ready. It is just leadership that needs to be provided. People need services to be delivered, hence, we will definitely have a patriotic citizen that understands the needs of the residents as opposed to the current leaders that are imposed on the people. We will have a patriotic candidate that will understand leadership and what it means for Namibians,” he said.
The Landless People’s Movement, however, indicated that they will only pronounce themselves next week with regard to the by-election. Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of Namibia yesterday announced that the supplementary registration for voters would take place from 6 to 8 June in Swakopmund.