President Nangolo Mbumba says the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is not to blame for the ballot shortages, long queues and other glitches during this year’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
Mbumba said this during a courtesy visit of the African Union Electoral Observation Mission head, Speciosa Kazibwe, to State House, along with her delegation, on Friday.
The election process has been marred by ballot paper shortages, an alleged unlawful extension, and frustrated voters.
“We are not going to blame them for this or that,” the president said.
He said the ECN cannot conduct elections alone.
“But we thought, let the ECN do the job. But the job is bigger than any one institution,” he said.
Mbumba said he was well informed of the challenges experienced during the elections.
“Shortages of ballot papers, that should not happen, voting in smaller places, that should not happen, not measuring the time.
“I said Africans, we have a problem with time,” he said.
Mbumba appealed to political, religious, traditional, and community leaders, as well as village headmen to remain calm until the final results are announced.
“We always say it is one thing for a person to win. It’s another thing also for democracy as a whole to win, and from these lessons we are learning that we should fight for democracy to win.”
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