Accusations of incompetence and unpreparedness levelled against the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) have sparked outrage among opposition political parties and citizens alike, with many questioning the integrity of Wednesday’s elections.
By the time polling stations were set to close on that evening, the mood across Namibia was one of despair and frustration.
While some people were turned away at some polling stations at closing time, other polling stations remained open indefinitely.
As late as 17h00, some polling stations in the Omaheke and Kunene regions were belatedly receiving ballot papers, and seeing ECN officials for the first time.
At one of the polling stations in Samora Machel, the elderly Maria Iikela sat on a makeshift chair after queuing for more than 10 hours.
“I have been here since 5 am, but now they are telling us there are no more ballot papers,” she said, her voice trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and anger.
“For how long are we going to wait? This is not right,” she complained.
Iikela’s plight was echoed in most polling stations from the Kunene to the //Kharas regions.
Across the nation, the pattern was the same: long queues, technical glitches with voter’s identification tablets, and ballot papers running out at key stations.
The New Era crews observed that what was anticipated by many Namibians to be a celebration of democracy following a huge turnout of voters, quickly turned into a logistical nightmare.
Silence
By yesterday morning, the ECN head honchos had not yet addressed the chaos publicly, nor engaged the furious political parties which were demanding answers.
In the morning hours, the ECN called all political parties to a meeting which was scheduled for 12h00 at the Commission’s headquarters.
Around 13h00, none of the entity’s officials could be seen anywhere near Boardroom 1, where the meeting was supposed to take place.
“We are not going to accept those results; this is sheer incompetence,” several angry opposition politicians were heard shouting.
“This is an insult to our democracy and our intelligence. You can’t expect blunders of this magnitude at this critical time. The queues were very slow. Clearly, we don’t know if this was deliberate to frustrate a very good number of Namibians who turned up in their numbers to vote,” said Independent Patriots for Change spokesperson Imms Nashinge.
He added: “The ECN has failed Namibians at the most critical moment. How can an election be legitimate when thousands of people could not cast their votes?”
Unity in chaos
Through it all, opposition parties which contested the Presidential and National Assembly elections called for the election process to be halted entirely.
At a fiery press conference held by the opposition, there were demands made for the resignation of ECN officials, and threats to legally challenge the results.
But the ECN remained silent.
“We have been in contact with the ECN trying to establish what really caused the problems — that they are denying Namibians their right to cast their votes, and we are not getting any response from the ECN”, IPC secretary general Christine !Aochamus, who was speaking on behalf of about 20 other parties under the banner “Voice for all parties”, stated.
She described the ECN as being disrespectful, unprofessional and unethical for disregarding the political parties as stakeholders.
“When we arrived here shortly before 12h00, the ECN told us to wait in the foyer. We complied with their request, but we discovered that the Swapo Party’s secretary general was granted access into the building. We don’t know what they are doing here; we don’t know why they have been granted access when everybody else has been barred,” she continued.
As the clock ticked past midday yesterday, there was still no official explanation or plan for addressing the crisis.
Journalists camped outside the Commission’s headquarters, and described an atmosphere of chaos.
“We didn’t anticipate that we would be at a point where chaos brings questions of doubt”, muttered a local journalist.
Meanwhile, voters who persevered until the bitter end expressed scepticism about whether their votes would even count.
“With political parties denouncing the results, what’s going to happen?” questioned Annalisa Amutenya.
Namibia is often lauded as a beacon of stability in southern Africa.
The Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI), which measures the development status and governance of political and economic transformation processes, said the government has “maintained a relatively high degree of stability and social capital, both domestically and internationally.”
This was contained in the country report for 2024.
However, the country now finds its democratic credentials under scrutiny.
“The chaotic manner in which elections have been conducted is a recipe for disaster, which has led to civil unrest in countries like Mozambique,” official opposition leader McHenry Venaani said during an emergency presser on Wednesday night.
He said what happened has everything to do with voter suppression.
The politician furthermore accused the ECN of driving Namibia in reverse gear, and called on President Nangolo Mbumba to avert electoral violence as seen in Mozambique.
“We have not commanded people to go onto the streets, but if this is what they want, we will go toe to toe with them,” he told the media.
Analysts
Speaking to New Era, political analyst Rui Tyitende said the ECN has failed to uphold the standards and constitutional rights of the country’s citizens.
“My view is that there should be some sort of accountability because this is the worst election that has ever been conducted post-independence, and I think it’s time heads rolled,” he observed.
Rui opined: “If the ECN officials and management had any sort of integrity, especially those who were at the heart of this electoral process, they should resign with immediate effect. No apologies whatsoever, because they were quite distant in terms of communicating with the media and informing the public what was happening. Even presiding officials at various polling stations could not get hold of their superiors in the ECN.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by another political analyst, Ndumba Kamwanyah.
“I don’t know what actually happened that they (ECN) have to run out of ballot papers because they already knew the number of registered voters. They also knew how many were registered in which constituencies, or in which areas. So, I really don’t know what to make out of it, but it’s a pity that it frustrated the voters,” he said.
Kamwanyah added that voters had done their part by showing up at the polls in their numbers, but the ECN could not match them.
He suggested a proper assessment as soon as possible to determine the number of people who were sent away because ballot papers had run out, as well as the slow verification process.
“If we find out that quite a number of people did not vote and they were robbed of that opportunity to exercise their democratic right or their civic duties to vote, then an alternative measure must be made to make sure they are given the opportunity to exercise their rights because the impact of a low turnout is severe in terms of the outcomes, and also in terms of the credibility of our democracy and our election process,” he emphasised.