By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK The just-ended voters registration for the upcoming Nkurenkuru Local Authority Elections in the Kavango Region has been described as a success. Director of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) Philemon Kanime said 1ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 769 voters have registered between the 13th and 17th of this month at the Nkurenkuru settlement in the Mpungu Constituency. “The process went very well and the turnout was very high as we captured all the voters. All registration points were busy during that week of registration,” said Kanime. He added that just by looking at the long queues for registration of voters it is shows the keen interest among the inhabitants of Nkurenkuru to see their area being changed from a settlement into a town. During the process, ECN registration officials were busy on the ground in that area, after being recruited and having undergone training between the period January 29 to February 10 this year. As amended in accordance with the provision of Section 3 (1) of the Local Authority Act, Act Number 23 of 1992, Nkurenkuru settlement in the Mpungu Constituency of the Kavango Region has been proclaimed a town. This is also based on Government Notice No. 155 of September 15, 2005. Although the weeklong registration of voters was described as a success, there were a few hiccups especially with some minor delays where residents were unable to provide the necessary documents, like electricity or water bills that show they are actual inhabitants of Nkurenkuru. In view of these obstacles, Kanime said such a situation was understandable, as most of the inhabitants live in rural areas and don’t have access to such documents anyway. “The majority of people who stay there are villagers, and not everyone has such facilities like water and electricity. That is why councillors, traditional leaders and church leaders were asked to make sworn statements in identifying the people who came to register as voters at the various points,” Kanime explained further. ECN requirements for all those who registered as voters were that a person must be a resident of the Nkurenkuru Local Authority area for the past 12 months or longer, be older that 18 years, must have an ID document, and have a Namibian Passport or a Driver’s Licence. Ultimately, it means that all prospective voters must be in possession of a Local Authority Voter Registration Card for Nkurenkuru to be able to vote. Now that the registration process is over, ECN officials are now putting their heads together on how best to plan for the upcoming Election Day scheduled for March 23, 2007. Counting will start immediately after closing of polls. “All logistics are already in place, and we are ready for that day,” said Kanime, adding that this is a highly contested election by five political parties, namely the SWAPO Party, Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), National Unity Democratic Organization (NUDO), Congress of Democrats (CoD) and Republican Party (RP). Each political party has submitted seven candidate names to contest in the upcoming election next month. Located in the Mpungu Constituency, Nkurenkuru town is situated 145 kilometres west of Rundu, close to the Angolan border. The constituency itself has a total population of 18ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 660 inhabitants.