PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba yesterday issued a directive to the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to produce a credible, transparent and verifiable national voters’ roll more than a year before the general elections in 2014.
That the President wants a credible and verifiable voters’ roll clearly indicates Namibia – as it has steadfastly done in the past – wants to have a clean election where all its citizens are included leaving no room for any poll mischief.
Speaking from experience, the opposition have in the past cried foul after suffering heavily in previous elections and they even sought legal recourse but they also failed. The President deserves praise for making such a bold pronouncement to avoid any related electoral problems.
It also shows Pohamba does not want what happened in Zimbabwe, where the opposition pre-empted the outcome of the elections and when they were soundly defeated they as usual alleged “massive poll rigging” and their handlers joined in the resultant cacophony based on hearsay with no substantive proof.
It is because of commitments like the one undertaken by the President that no one should dispute or cast aspersions on the democratic credentials of Namibia that is regarded as one of the shining examples of democracy on the continent.
Having in mind he leads a government of the people, by the people, for the people, early this year Pohamba appointed the Fourth Delimitation Commission to undertake a nationwide consultative exercise to seek views from the public.
Like the Head of State pointed out yesterday, the cardinal principal of government is efficient service delivery to the entire Namibian nation. More importantly, Namibians who live in rural areas are equally entitled to government services just like the people living in urban areas.
The main purpose of the Commission was to receive submissions from all Namibians irrespective of political affiliation or social standing in society on suggestions on the various regions and constituencies.
This exercise, without doubt, was initiated taking into consideration the problems experienced in the past when it came to service delivery, considering the fact Namibia is a vast country that is sparsely populated, which poses some challenges.
On the renaming of Caprivi, the new name Zambezi has geographical relevance to the north-eastern region, where hundreds of people also relate to the mighty Zambezi River from where they have derived a living for centuries.
Unlike the new name Zambezi, the name Caprivi was imposed on residents of the Zambezi by colonial oppressors who wanted to glorify one Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi, who never even set foot in the region named after him. It is a pity there are still some remnants of their master’s servants who feebly tried to object to the new name, but who fortunately are in the minority.
On splitting the Kavango into Kavango East and Kavango West, it is clear government wants to enhance service delivery because of its vastness.
Namibians should also accept the new names of Kavango East, Kavango West, Zambezi and !Karas because these names are indigenous and have a purpose and the President should be praised for taking such a bold step.
09 Aug 2013 – Story by The Editor