Windhoek
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is thoroughly preparing itself for the Regional and Local Government elections slated for November this year to improve on previous polls, ECN Director of Operations Theo Mujoro told New Era on Tuesday.
Mujoro said the ECN chairperson, Advocate Notemba Tjipueja, has already submitted proposed election dates to President Hage Geingob for the supplementary registration of voters and for parties to submit the names of their nominees as well as for the special voting for the regional council election.
According to Mujoro, the President is required to proclaim some of these key dates in terms of the law.
Furthermore, Mujoro said the electoral body is currently focusing on a number of areas mainly the recruitment of registration officials at all levels that include coordinators, assistants and also the supervisors of registrations. He said the electoral body is “also looking at replenishing registration material to be used during the forthcoming supplementary registration”.
Mujoro said ECN is also engaging relevant government institutions to secure vehicles for the process.
“We have also commenced with the training exercise, especially the training of trainers who assist us in the training of registration officials,” he said.
As part of the preparations, Mujoro said ECN has started to engage stakeholders such as the police and others. “We had a high-level strategic meeting with the Namibian Police Force and we will be engaging other stakeholders as we move ahead,” Mujoro said.
Every five years, Namibia elects new regional and local councillors to serve five-year terms.
Regional councils are responsible for the development and administration of the region. Every council must strive to promote development in the region to improve the living conditions of its residents. During the election, voters vote for the candidate they believe would administer their constituency most capably and effectively. During the first sitting of the regional council, the members elect two councillors to represent the region in the National Council.
Local authority councils include all municipalities, town councils and village councils. These councils are tasked with managing and maintaining the area for which they are established and which they represent.
During the local authority election, voters vote for the political party of their choice.
A party appoints its representatives to the local authority based on the proportional representation list.