Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

RDP blames law amendment for low turnout

Home National RDP blames law amendment for low turnout

WINDHOEK – Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) director for elections Nic Kruger has blamed the poor turnout of voters in last week’s Windhoek West by-election on the late gazetting of the new electoral law.

The Windhoek West by-election last Friday saw a poor turnout of voters, with only 3 398 of the 27 000 registered voters casting their vote.
Swapo candidate Georg Trepper won the election convincingly.

Kruger says the fact that the new Electoral Act and the Constitutional Amendment Act were gazetted at a very late stage created some pressure on all stakeholders in the elections.

“We are really operating under heavy pressure to comply with the new law regarding election and counting agents, the schedules of the NBC to, for the first time ever, utilize the free airtime,” he said.

Kruger says the by-elections in Endola and Windhoek West “did not help our cause and in this regard the party would put more effort into the by-elections, but some things were just physically impossible to do”.

“Opposition parties operate on shoestring budgets and the low voter turnout was maybe voter protest against the performance of the local, regional and national government,” he added.

He said the party would step up its campaign over the coming days and encourage voters countrywide to use their votes to bring positive change and a better life for all.

The Windhoek West by-election was won by Swapo with 2 685 votes followed by the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) with 315, DTA of Namibia 205, Congress of Democrats (CoD) 53 and Republican Party 140 votes.

Candidates for the councillor position were George Trepper (Swapo), Maureen Dunn (RDP), Immanuel Benestus Auchamub (DTA), Joseph Amadhila (CoD) and Sophia Panizza (Republican Party).

Voters used electronic voting machines (EVMs), which had already been used in by-elections in Ohangwena and Endola, as well as the Bukalo local authority election earlier this year.

By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa