After a fierce legal battle against the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) will finally find their feet in the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly elections’ campaign stage.
This is after the commission decided to swallow the High Court judgement against its deregistration of the NEFF hook, line and sinker.
The ECN said in a press release on Monday that “the commission will comply with the High Court’s decision, and will yield to its guidance in implementing the Act”.
The High Court ruled in favour of the NEFF, and set aside the commission’s decision to deregister it as a political party, which resulted from non-compliance.
ECN spokesperson Malauli Siluka stated that the High Court positively noted the points of law raised by the commission, and mainly only dismissed them since the matter is the first of its kind, and involved a very important issue in the electoral jurisprudence of Namibia.
“The High Court highlighted that the disclosure regime provided for in the Act is to ensure that political parties are transparent in their activities, and that they account for the public money given to them by the government.
“They should disclose all their assets and liabilities so that they do not become a vehicle through which money-laundering and other illegal activities are carried out,” he said.
He added that although the High Court pointed out the NEFF’s non-compliance throughout the judgement, the court gave a word of encouragement to the commission,
although sternly, that they should not be unduly lenient in dealing with errant political parties as this erodes the confidence of the public in the electoral process, and that the applicable provisions, including the imposable sanctions, must be carried out fearlessly to meet the objectives of the Act.
He said after a meeting with the commission on Monday, the NEFF undertook to heed to the commission to enforce compliance with peremptory provisions of the Electoral Act. “The ECN extended the NEFF time to ensure compliance with all outstanding items, failing which it will set in motion the process to invoke the suspension of funds appropriated by Parliament on account of failure to comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act,” Siluka stated.
During a press conference at Parliament yesterday, the NEFF celebrated the ECN’s decision to re-register the party, and for them to run in the November elections.
The party’s deputy president Iipumbu Kalimbo described the legal battle with the ECN as the NEFF’s baptism of fire, revealing who would remain loyal to the party and who would not.
Although the party has spent time and resources on the case, they are confident that they will have a strong campaign, and enough time to prepare for the elections.
“At no point did we intend to evade compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, particularly regarding transparency and accountability. Yet, even as the deregistration was executed, our party was not accorded the lawful right to present our case. This was not only a violation of fairness, but a blatant disregard for the legal principles that govern democratic engagement.
The High Court ruling in our favour vindicates us and our argument that the ECN acted without due process. What raises further concern is the timing of our deregistration, which came suspiciously close to calls from certain political figures within the Swapo Party to suppress our party’s involvement in the upcoming elections,” he said.
He maintained that the drastic measures taken by the ECN served no other purpose but to stroke the egos of those desperate to eliminate the NEFF from the political landscape, “as they see us as a legitimate threat to their prolonged occupation of parliamentary seats”.
“Our understanding is that at the very core of the High Court ruling is the caution that the ECN’s actions risked taking our democracy into dangerous and uncharted waters.
We were denied access to party funds, including staff salaries, throughout this period,” he continued.
“Our campaigns, like those of all other parties, require resources to overcome logistical challenges and procure campaign materials. I will not shy away from stating that this unlawful deregistration by the ECN effectively sabotaged our party’s operations at a crucial time. But the NEFF remains undeterred by these obstacles,” he said.
Kalimbo added that the party’s funds could only be released by next week, as Parliament is busy with the necessary documentation.