Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi has appealed to all stakeholders to work together to ensure the country’s electoral body achieves the objectives contained in its new strategic plan.
Katjavivi made this call yesterday during the launch of the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s strategic plan for the next five years.
Katjavivi said executing the strategies and achieving goals, as contained in this plan, will depend on the strategic foundation of the commission, its leadership commitment and interactive communications with stakeholders and strong adherence to core values.
“The ECN is committed to successfully implementing this plan. However, they, alone, cannot realise the desired goals or results without the full participation and support of every stakeholder,” Katjavivi assured stakeholders.
He said Namibia’s elections are benchmarked to meet international and regional standards, norms and principles, and he is confident the strategic plan will help the commission to manage electoral processes better.
“The strategic plan will help the commission to plan for change in a systematic approach, adapt processes based on new information and foster better communication within and outside the commission,” he said.
“Effective governance is important in providing transparent and accountable management and oversight of any entity,” he added.
He said the commission’s role within Namibia’s democratic system means that it must uphold the highest standards of ethics and governance.
This, he said, translates into accountability for the management of resources and the successful delivery of the ECN’s mandate.
“Corporate governance is the most dominant mechanism that aligns the interest of various stakeholders, thereby enhancing the ECN’s operations and success in the long term,” he stressed.
On her part, ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua said the new strategic plan will serve as a reference tool for consultations amongst stakeholders to keep working towards common goals.
Accordingly, she said ECN will engage and communicate with clarity and transparency to ensure all our stakeholders are well informed and well educated on issues of our democracy.
“The ECN commits itself to ensure that the strategic priority areas in the Plan are attained in a transparent, accountable and impartial manner and that key partners are part of this process,” she said.
According to Nghikembua, the objectives of the commission’s strategic plan articulate priority areas in the electoral cycle, aimed at improving operational efficiency, stakeholder awareness and participation by seeking to build on the positive reforms and innovations introduced in the last general elections.