WINDHOEK- Director of Elections at the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), Professor Paul John Isaak, has expressed his delight at the way the Bukalo election went last weekend.
Four parties – the Congress of Democrats (CoD), DTA, National Democratic Party (NDP) and Swapo – battled it out for the five seats on the newly-declared village council.
A total of 346 voters registered for the election, which Swapo won convincingly by taking four of the five seats.
In an interview with New Era on Monday, Isaak said he was very satisfied considering the usually low turnout of voters in local elections countrywide in previous years.
“On average it [voter turnout] was normally below 30 percent. In this case of Bukalo we obtained 64.1 percent and that is a remarkable achievement. In this type of election where we made use of the electronic voting machines there were zero spoilt ballots,” he noted.
Of the 222 total votes cast, Swapo Party took the lion’s share of 188 votes followed by the CoD which managed 25 votes.
The DTA won six votes while the NDP won three votes.
“For the second time in the electoral history of Namibia, as well as in the entire Africa, the ECN used the electronic voting machines (EVMs). The reliability, accuracy, simplicity, and user or voter-friendliness of the EVMs are remarkable. We are especially receiving compliments from senior citizens. We are proud to use such modern technology and to use it highly successfully,” Isaak said.
He explained that the elections were free, fair and credible and were conducted in an extremely peaceful atmosphere.
“And I am in particular impressed by the mature manner in which all four participating political parties behaved. They adhered to the political code of conduct without exception. That is the spirit in which we must continue our democracy and democratization of this nation,” he maintained.
The newly elected local authority councillors who will be sworn in today are Swapo’s Charles Siyauya, Knadi Namatana, Lewis Matomela and Ntobi Mwilima and CoD’s Lawrence Mukena.
As Swapo Party continues to gain momentum by winning both the Ohangwena by-election and Bukalo local authority ballot, its secretary general Nangolo Mbumba urged its members and supporters to remain victorious.
Mbumba made the remarks when he congratulated residents of Bukalo who voted for Swapo.
“We thank the residents of Bukalo for voting for Swapo Party and putting it in power to manage the affairs of the Bukalo Village Council. We hope this will be the trend of Swapo also in the presidential and National Assembly elections in November,” Mbumba said.