from ALFRED SHILONGO in Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia Bureau
WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – ONE of the most stable countries in the continent, Namibia, has slid into a political crisis following last week’s fault-prone elections.
These polls, the worst-organised in post-Namibia’s 34-year-history, have culminated in a constitutional dilemma after the outgoing president extended voting by a further three days, from November 27.
Depending on which side of the political fence one sits on, the extension of voting days either is a justified move to enable those that failed to vote amid ballot paper shortages an opportunity to exercise their democratic right to participate, or, as critics argue, exposes the electoral process to rigging.
Not only is the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) criticising the move by President Nangolo Mbumba as unconstitutional but has maintained it would not accept the results, regardless of a win for the party, a loss or runoff election.
Saturday, the last day of voting at some polling stations that had earlier in the week suffered shortages of ballot papers and dysfunctional equipment, was arguably the most dramatic day in Namibia’s politics.
It is the day Dr Panduleni Itula, leader of the IPC announced the party’s rejection of the electoral exercise. Allegations of vote rigging intensified and there were skirmishes at a polling station north of the country where opposition parties alleged that people from the neighbouring Angola had been transported to vote, allegedly for the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).
SWAPO’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is in line to become the country’s first female president.
“We will not recognize the outcome of this deeply flawed election,” Itula said at a media conference in the capital, Windhoek.
“We will seek to nullify this process in the courts. Namibians deserve better. This is about democracy, not politics.”
The opposition leader alleges the polls administered by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) violated tenets of the country’s Electoral Act.
“Namibians deserve the right to choose their leaders freely and fairly not through a rigged process,” said Itula, expelled from SWAPO in 2020.
Allegations of vote rigging resurfaced on Saturday at the Evululuko Senior Secondary School polling station in the Oshana region where the opposition alleged two buses dropped several individuals suspected to be Angolans, from the disputed Cabinda region, that had been given voting cards to participate.
Police had to be called in to quell the scuffles.
Elizabeth Nashandi, regional Head of Crime Prevention, addressed the media late Saturday, assuring that the situation was calm and voting went ahead.
The region was among numerous polling stations that ran out of ballot papers, and suffered malfunctioning devices on Wednesday, prompting the extension of voting.
Petrus Shaama, ECN Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer, appealed to the public to remain calm while the under-fire ECN was verifying and certifying results before the official announcement.
He denounced what he called the circulation of fake results sheets on social media.
The deadlock in Namibia portrays the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states as incapable of holding credible polls.
Apart from genuine polls in Botswana and Mauritius in recent weeks, elections in Madagascar (2023), Mozambique (2024), South Africa (2024), Tanzania (local elections last week) and Zimbabwe (2023) have been characterised by vote rigging claims.
The SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) noted the elections were characterised by “operational lapses” such as a shortage of ballot papers at polling stations, heating of tablets, running out of batteries for the five ultraviolet light torches and mobile polling stations leaving before some voters had cast their vote
Anne Makinda, former speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, thus said, “In the event of any electoral disputes, the Mission appeals to all contestants to channel their concerns through established legal procedures and processes.”
Joseph Shikongo, the Inspector General of Police, said, “We are ready to maintain law and order at whatever cost.”
The police chief, who alluded to the post-poll crisis in Mozambique added, “All political parties must have a sense of dispute resolution.”
Protests after disputed elections in Mozambique have left over 70 people dead, in what has become the latest crisis to batter SADC, formerly the most peaceful region in the volatile continent.
Namibia has never posed a headache to the bloc since independence from apartheid South Africa but it is therefore now a ticking time bomb.
– CAJ News