KALKFELD – Senior citizens who cast their votes at the Kalkfeld Primary School polling station yesterday commended the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s officials, saying their assistance and patience smoothened the process.
When New Era arrived at the polling site early yesterday, voting was going smoothly, with the elderly and ordinary members segmented accordingly.
Rivaldo Uanivi, ECN’s presiding officer at the polling station, said voting started well, and continued smoothly. He said most voters knew what was required of them, and equally understood the various steps of how to vote for the various Presidential and National Assembly candidates.
“For a small place like Kalkfeld, I must really say the turnout is great. Both the senior citizens and young voters all came out in numbers, and that is good to see. We opened at 7h00, and immediately got underway with the voting process, which went very well. As you can see, things are moving quite orderly here. The elderly are not struggling that much. Where we see there are challenges, we make sure they receive the necessary help in order to vote,” he said.
Kalkfeld is a settlement in the Otjozondjupa region, situated halfway between Omaruru and Otjiwarongo on the national C33 road.
After casting his vote, 68-year-old Johannes Gaingob said he was happy with how the voting went, and how the ECN officials assisted him.
“I almost mixed up my votes for the person I was going to vote for president and the party I was going to vote for in the National Assembly. Luckily, they helped me, and I managed to vote correctly as planned. You can see that there is no development at Kalkfeld, and our kids are just sitting at home with nothing to do. I’m hoping my vote will bring the desired change to the town. We want development here, and only through the ballot box can we make our voices heard,” he remarked. Kalkfeld was proclaimed a village in 1991, and was governed by its own village council until 1996. It was downgraded to a settlement due to a lack of growth.
Gaingob said he hopes his vote will culminate in the desired development, and reposition the settlement as a strategic tourism hotspot and logistics hub.
This is especially considering that it houses a huge portion of the country’s railway line.
About 23 kilometres east of Kalkfeld, there is farm Otjihaenamaparero, where 170-million-year-old dinosaur footprints can be found.
It serves as one of the top tourism attractions.
Anna Witbooi (72) agreed with Gaingob that the settlement has been yearning for development, but their cries seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
“I think, in terms of housing, there is slight progress. The problem remains the lack of jobs for the youth and other productive social activities. By casting our votes today, we are telling our leaders that they have work to do, and must deliver on the promises they made during their campaigns. We have given them our votes. It is now up to them to deliver on those promises. We want development and hope for the young ones,” she added.