Iuze Mukube
The Electoral Court of Namibia yesterday ruled against an application that sought to illegalise the use of an electronic nomination system for this year’s upcoming Regional Councils and Local Authorities Elections.
The applicants, the Khomas Residents and Ratepayers Association, sought to have the court order the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to accept their physical submission of nominations for the registration of local authority candidates.
The association’s secretary general, Shaun Gariseb, claimed that ECN’s decision to compel parties to use an electronic system that is neither gazetted nor prescribed by law is unlawful.
The applicants sought for the court to review this decision and the use of the system to be declared unlawful and unconstitutional.
In a nutshell, the matter stemmed from the premises by the association on the legality of the system “used by ECN to register candidates known as the Political Parties and Candidates Management Portal (PPCM)”, where they argued that the matter cannot be allowed to stand because it “sets a bad precedent in terms of the laws of this country.”
They claimed that it was clear many political parties and associations were severely affected by the “so called” PPCM system that was “not gazetted and not prescribed.”
“The system has been unlawfully implemented by ECN without any prescription or gazetting,” stated Gariseb.
He further added that the system is being used in Namibia for the first time, as candidates used to file their Form 22 on a physical form, which was unlawfully discontinued by the ECN.
“What became clear is there’s a deliberate attempt to frustrate us and make sure we don’t prepare enough for the election because, sitting there, we don’t get a chance to campaign like other political parties”, added Gariseb.
Additionally, Gariseb stated that the system, during the registration process, exposed association members to problems and glitches, making it difficult for them to complete the registration.
Windhoek High Court Deputy Judge President Hannelie Prinsloo chaired the bench, along with two other Judges, Orben Sibeya and Beatrix de Jager.
The court dismissed the application yesterday but delayed providing reasons for the ruling to a later date.
State advocate Jabulani Ncube represented ECN, and Kadhila Amoomo represented Gariseb.
–mukubeiuze@gmail.com