The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has denied claims that it has employed school-going children to set up the integrated mobile voter registration system (IMVRS) for the electoral processes of voter registration and polling stations.

The ECN said this in a press statement on Monday, retaliating to allegations made by the Landless Peoples’ Movement (LPM) City of Windhoek councillor Ivan Skrywer, who questioned the validity, transparency and functionality of the integrated systems.

In the statement, ECN Chief Electoral and Referenda officer Peter Shaama refuted and condemned in the strongest terms the allegations made by the Skrywer, saying they are devoid of any truth and misleading.

“During the last engagement held at the Mercure Hotel in Windhoek on 19 October 2023, which is part of the electoral calendar presented to the political parties and organisations
/associations, all stakeholders in attendance, including LPM, were updated on progress made thus far with the IMVRS,” it reads.

According to Shaama, stakeholders were also informed that a “mock voter registration” will be conducted to test the functionality of the enhanced system before the actual roll-out and launch of the IMVRS. 

During that meeting, political parties and organisations
/associations were requested to be part of the mock voter registration process as key stakeholders in the process.

“For this reason, it is a prerequisite for the ECN to prepare the equipment for this exercise and ensure that only the number of devices to be deployed will be prepared as per the deployment plan,” he said.

Furthermore, in terms of the procurement guidelines, it is standard practice that when any equipment is acquired, it must be tested to establish its general functionality before actual deployment, he said.

“There is no substance to the allegations that ECN information technology officials, or the ECN for that matter, do not have any control over the work to be carried out for this purpose.”

-  Nampa