Rudolf Gaiseb
Namibia’s opposition political parties have condemned the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN)’s decision to deny funding for their trip to South Africa to inspect the printing of ballots for the upcoming Regional and Local Authorities Elections.
ECN awarded the N$4.9 million ballot printing tender Uniprint Global.
The elections, slated for 26 November 2025, will see Uniprint Global print and deliver more than 1.8 million ballot papers for regional councils’ elections and 912 700 ballot papers in respect of the local authorities’ elections.
Yesterday, during the urgent press conference at Parliament, Independent Patriots for Change spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge said ECN’s decision is unacceptable.
“The arrogance they are exhibiting is undermining our democracy,” he said.
Nashinge added that, last year, the parties struggled to know how much the country spent in the electoral process, citing the issue of trust.
“Our confidence is broken,” he said.
According to the parties, ECN must fund 100% of the excursion for each party or
risk the parties not participating in the voting process or signing off on the ballot papers.
“They are very arrogant, and they don’t respect us as stakeholders,” Popular Democratic Movement member Manuel Ngaringombe said.
He accused ECN of using the Political Party Liaison Committee (PLC) as an information session, where decisions are made without considering input from opposition parties.
The parties called for the committee to adopt legal legs to ensure fairness.
Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters spokesperson Teresia Hamurenge said ECN rose to the issue on 3 September 2025 when they indicated that they would look into it and see if they could do anything.
“And then five days before departure, ECN tells us ‘We are not giving you guys anything. If you want to join us, join us. If not, stay,” she said. Meanwhile, Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Eneas Emvula told ECN to find money through other alternatives so that the opposition party representatives are present and the whole exercise can continue to be conducted the way it was conducted last year.
“We are not observers in the election that we form part of. Observers are people from outside. We are within. We need to be respected as such – whether it’s by the State President or by these commissioners, whose time should actually end soon,” he said. Emvula added that the commission must ferment their budget so that they can allocate sufficient resources for this sensitive exercise, so that the Namibian electorates can have full confidence or at least their confidence restored.
ECN had previously suggested the parties pay 50% but allegedly also withdrew that decision.
Responding to the claims, ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka questioned, “Why should we pay?”
He noted that the institution covered the travel expenses and accommodations for political parties during a similar trip in last year’s Presidential and National Assembly elections. He justified that there are a total number of 53 registered political parties and associations.
In addition to this number is the yet-to-be-confirmed number of independent candidates participating in the elections, “which is the staggering number currently at 60+-”.
“The commission does not have the resources to fund the accommodation, transport and related expenses of over 100 participants. The stakeholders will be kept abreast of all the developments and progress with the production,” Siluka stated yesterday.
In 2024, the ECN incurred expenses totalling N$523 698 for accommodation and meals as well as N$404 347 for flight tickets of 21 delegates who observed the production of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Siluka said that, before the dispatch to the regions at the ECN warehouse, the parties are permitted to affix their security seals on the materials.