The ruling Swapo Party has taken a commanding lead in this year’s National Assembly elections, while President Hage Geingob was slightly ahead of independent candidate Dr Panduleni Itula in the presidential race.
According to provisional results released by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) yesterday, Geingob won most of the constituencies in Omaheke, including Kalahari, Okorukambe, Epukiro and Gobabis. Swapo also snapped up most of the constituencies in Omaheke, according to provisional results.
At the time of going to print yesterday, the ECN had declared less than 20 percent of the votes for the presidential election, while for the National Assembly, over 20 percent of the votes were declared. nated poll results in Kavango East and West as well as the Zambezi region, provisional results indicated that Itula won most of the constituencies in Khomas. For Windhoek West alone, Itula took a lion’s share of 11 707 compared to Geingob’s 6 366, while for Windhoek East, the independent candidate scooped 11 666, whereas Geingob had 5 672 votes. PDM president McHenry Venaani came third in both constituencies.
Itula also performed well in Windhoek Rural constituency where he received 7 047 votes, while Geingob got 5 383 votes. He was followed by Venaani who got 1 073 and Bernadus Swartbooi of LPM who secured 817 votes.
Itula also did well in Samora Machel where he received 10 214 votes, while Geingob received 6 328 votes.
In John Pandeni and Khomasdal constituencies, Itula, according to provisional results came out tops, followed by Geingob and Venaani. Geingob was, however, the popular candidate in Tobias Hainyeko constituency where he secured 5 461 votes, while Itula received 4 704.
In the south, confirmed results showed that Swartbooi won both the Keetmanshoop Urban and Rural constituencies, while Geingob and Swapo retained !Nami#nus, amid a strong challenge from Itula in the presidential election.
Geingob also won most of the constituencies in Hardap, including Rehoboth East where he got 53.4 percent of the vote, while Venaani came second at 15.59 percent.
In Rehoboth East, the popular vote was won by Venaani who gained about 43 percent, compared to Geingob’s 22.7 percent.
In Erongo, Itula dominated the presidential vote according to provisional results, with a good showing in both Walvis Bay Urban and Rural and Swakopmund. Itula also narrowly won Arandis constituency, according to the provisional results.
Swapo retained its control in Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Arandis but with a reduced majority as the PDM also made serious inroads in the ruling party’s stronghold.
However, Geingob cruised to victory in Karibib, Omaruru as well as Daures constituency, which saw a serious challenge from Apius !Auchab of UDF.
In Kunene, Geingob and Swapo were also in a commanding lead, but faced a serious challenge from UDF and PDM. In fact, Venaani and PDM , according to provisional results, won the Epupa and Opuwo Rural constituencies.
In Oshikoto, Geingob and Swapo retained their dominance in many areas including Tsumeb, Guinas, Onyaanya, Onayena and Oniipa, among others. However, Olukonda constituency delivered a mixed bag, with Itula narrowly winning the popular vote.
In Otjozondjupa, according to confirmed results, Geingob received 5 713 votes, while Itula came second with 2 779 votes.
Another interesting race was observed at Okakakara where Nudo and its candidate Esther Muinjangue faced an onslaught from PDM. However, Muinjangue prevailed and retained arguably their strongest voting block with 2 300 votes, compared to Venaani’s 2 290.
Geingob came in third with 1 763 votes, while Itula got 426 votes. Most of the results from Omusati, Oshana and many parts of Ohangwena were not yet confirmed at the time of going to print. However, preliminary results indicated that Geingob and Swapo were expected to win the majority of constituencies in the north.