SWANU MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE 27TH NOVEMBER 2024
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Comrade Leaders present here,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Members of the Media
Among the many things which drove us into exile and in the
fighting gear against foreign domination and occupation was the
right to vote and to have a say in the governance of our country
and to actively shape her future as equal citizens regardless of
political affiliation, religious believes, creed, social status or
gender. In this sense the right to vote and the exercise of that
right are fundamental features of Namibia’s post colonial society.
The right to vote for those who had the chance to vote and voted
as well as the right to vote for those who arrived at the polling
stations but not allowed to vote due to the incompetencies of the
ECN, must at all material times be protected and preserved.
Namibia had just concluded what is generally characterized by
most of the registered political parties in the country as chaotic
and riddled with administrative glitches. We have witnessed how
in some identifiable parts of our country registered voters being
sent back after waiting for long hours in the queue only to be
informed that the polling station had ran out of ballot paper. In
some instances polling stations were opened more than three
hours later than the scheduled time leaving voters with far less
time to vote as the late openings were not factored into the
closing time of the same poling stations.
For the first time we have witnessed a much more robust
questioning of the Electoral Commission’s integrity, impartiality
and professionalism. In this sense there is a significant number of
Namibians who do not consider the ECN as a trustworthy electoral
body and who also believe that the ECN in its dealings favors
SWAPO above other political parties and this is confirmed by how
the ECN would hold undisclosed meetings with the functionaries
of the SWAPO in the absence of other political parties weeks
before the elections and during the elections.
There has been a plethora of complaints and accusations leveled
against the ECN ranging from deliberate sabotage of the elections
by instituting delays and the utilization of faulty gadgets,
inadequate voting materials, late opening of polling stations,
exclusion of certain polling stations from the proclamation order,
the involvement of ZANU-PF in the electoral affairs of the Namibia
by the ECN and SWAPO, unlawful handling and custodianship of
elections materials by some unidentified individuals, the
transportation of some individuals from Angola by busses
financed by SWAPO or its functionaries, etc.
SWANU of Namibia deeply regrets the fact that 34 years after
independence we still cannot seem to conduct our elections
without incident. It is disheartening that the complaints thus far
aired by ordinary citizens and the political parties have fallen on
deaf ears. To this end, SWANU of Namibia took the following
decisions:
a. To write a letter of complaint to the Electoral Commission of
Namibia in which the complaints as observed by us and other
concerned parties will be set out and in which a request for a
meeting with the ECN will be communicated at which meeting
the ECN will be expected to explain to us as a registered
political party and an active participant in the just concluded
elections why they were so inept in the handling and
conducting of the elections,
b. To also discuss urgency of reforming the electoral law starting
from the manner in which commissioners are appointed as well
as the administrative staff of the commission, the accreditation
of observers as well as the terms of reference guiding the work
of such observers in and during our elections, the adjudication
of election and election related disputes most preferably
through least expensive and less legalistically complex
processes such as arbitration, etc.
c. To write a letter to President Nangolo Mbumba seeking
audience with him to table and discuss our concerns regarding
the elections but more so the issuance of the proclamation
orders which as we have learnt have purposely excluded
certain polling stations and conveniently included others which
were of strategic significance to SWAPO,
d. SWANU of Namibia also intents to discuss the urgent need to
institute an independent judicial commission of inquiry into the
just ended elections, which commission of inquiry will also
carry the mandate to institute a thorough forensic audit of the
electoral process and make law reform recommendations.
e. SWANU of Namibia believes that the complaints raised during
the previous elections some five years ago had never been
addressed and or resolved and the Supreme Court ruling in the
case that was brought by Dr. Itula must be put under scrutiny
as part of the efforts to improve our electoral system and
efficiency.
With the above said, SWANU of Namibia will make further
pronouncements on where we stand after meeting the ECN and
the President of the Republic of Namibia.
Gratitude
We wish to express as we hereby do our most profound
appreciation to all our people for having had the determination to
stand in long queues to exercise their democratic right to vote in
peaceful and respectful ways. SWANU of Namibia appreciates our
people’s guanine commitment to peace and social progress. We
also extend our deepest gratitude to all of our members and
supporters who went out in their thousands to vote for SWANU!
We will honor their commitment by being of selfless service to all
our people.
Finally, it is only fair to congratulate Cde. Netumbo Nandi-
Ndaetwa for her electoral victory and wish her well in all her
future endeavors.
We thank you most sincerely for your time.
Evilastus KAARONDA,
PRESIDENT
