Loide Jason

Lahja Nashuuta

As the national elections approach, the political atmosphere in Namibia is increasingly fraught with discord as political parties continue their protest against the electoral process in the weeks preceding the vote. 

This situation arises from serious accusations that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) granted the ballot printing contract to South African company Ren-Form CC without following appropriate protocols. 

Consequently, the Christian Democratic Voice Party, the Republican Party of Namibia and the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) have decided not to send representatives to South Africa to oversee the printing of ballot papers for the Presidential and National Assembly elections. 

ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka has declined to disclose the costs associated with the trip to South Africa for the representatives of those political parties which agreed to observe the ballot paper production.

Henk Mudge, the president of the Republican Party (RP), said the decision to boycott the trip is driven by apprehensions on the awarding of the ballot printing contract to Ren-Form CC by the ECN. 

In an interview with New Era, he expressed distrust of Ren-Form CC, citing the company’s previous participation in Zimbabwe’s elections, which he characterised as a “rigged and corrupt” process. 

The RP leader further said members of Namibia’s ruling party Swapo were reportedly seen visiting the company in South Africa, further raising suspicions about potential political interference in the ballot production process.

“The fact that a corrupt company was chosen, and the ECN has remained silent on these accusations, is alarming… 

We, as the Republican Party, stand for free and fair elections. There is no way we will participate in processes that smell of corruption, let alone ones proven to be corrupt,” the veteran politician charged.

The RP dismissed speculation that their withdrawal was due to financial constraints, saying the ECN is covering all expenses for one delegate from each political party to observe the ballot printing process.

“It’s not about money. We refuse to be involved in any corrupt practice, regardless of whether we stay in five-star hotels paid for by the ECN or not,” Mudge said, adding that his party holds no trust in the integrity of the ECN.

 “We have made contact with other opposition leaders, and agreed that we will support any legal action to challenge these developments,” the RP leader said.

Mudge also voiced concern over potential voter fraud, claiming they had received information about individuals holding multiple voter registration cards.

“If this is the direction we are heading in before the election even starts, I don’t know how we can proceed with these elections in five weeks,” he remarked.

In response to questions on how his party would handle any discrepancies in the electoral process, given its decision not to observe the ballot paper production process, Mudge said the RP had stated its primary concerns lie with ensuring the ballot paper serial numbers are accurately recorded, transported and secured.

“We trust that others will be vigilant in this process. We will have to be wide awake during the upcoming elections because it is obvious that both Swapo and the ECN will do anything to ensure a win for Swapo,” said the politician.

PDM

PDM’s Manuel Ngaringombe acknowledged the ECN for adhering to the election schedule. However, he expressed his party’s disapproval of the method employed by the commission in granting the printing contract to Ren-Form CC.

“We objected to an emergency tender from a company with a bad reputation and that is badly tainted, so we withdrew our representative from going to observe the printing of ballot papers. We have written demand letters, one from the PDM itself, one from our lawyers, that the ECN must put or set that tender aside and follow the normal tender procedures,” he stated.

He added that the PDM will lead a peaceful match today against the awarding of the tender to the allegedly-tainted South African company.

“We will have a demonstration starting from 09h00 at the UN Plaza. We shall move from the UN Plaza to the ECN to hand over our petition. We are inviting all PDM members, supporters and sympathisers, and we are also inviting Namibians in general to join us,” Ngaringombe said.

Asked whether the protest was not an election ploy, he said: “We know that elections have been tampered with. We know that the PDM has already taken the government many, many years ago to court for election mismanagement or election corruption, and nothing happened. And now that we really are in these very important elections, we cannot allow the ECN to do as they please, and for political parties just to follow. 

“We are inviting any other political party. So, this is not for campaigning; this is just for us to defend our democracy, and we must take it seriously. We can’t say we object, and then together with the ECN we go to observe the same ballot paper printing process that we say we are objecting to,” he continued.

Efforts to reach out to the Christian Democratic Voice Party for comment before going to print proved futile.

Analysts’ views

Professor Rui Tyitende, a lecturer at the University of Namibia and a local political analyst, said the ongoing controversies involving the ECN considerably diminish the commission’s credibility, and are likely to weaken public trust in the body’s capacity to facilitate a free, transparent and fair election.

“This entire process is either a matter of gross incompetence or purely intentional, which makes it more disturbing. For the parties that initially protested the appointment of Ren-Form CC, their willingness and participation to observe the printing of the ballot papers implies the parties are confused as they are saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ on the appointment of a dodgy company like Ren-Form,” he said. 

Tyitende further maintained that political parties should have boycotted the entire process to send a strong message that anything which compromises the integrity of the electoral process will not be condoned. 

“As we speak, they are now complicit in this entire saga,” he said.

Echoing similar sentimenst, senior Legal Aid lawyer Natjirikasorua Tjirera said:

“What is perplexing is that the political parties seem to suggest that the company given the task of printing the ballot papers is compromised, yet they attend the very compromised process. It seems the parties’ desire to go on a paid holiday by the ECN is clouding their objections to the process. Attending this process will validate the very same process they are questioning. Their fight will then be compromised,” he said. 

Tjirera added that political parties are duty-bound to remain vigilant in defence of democracy, and should stand firm on their principles. He noted that the current flip-flopping tendencies do not paint a good picture for opposition political parties.

-ljason@nepc.com.na

-lnashuuta@gmail.com