Call to fire ECN commissioners over NEFF deregistration boob

Political analyst Ben Mulongeni has called for the sacking of commissioners to restore public trust in the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).

This follows the ECN’s error in opting to deregister the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) without exhausting all available options.

Speaking on Desert Radio on Thursday afternoon, Mulongeni said the electoral body needs to be impartial in its dealings.

He said the ECN’s judgement error resulted in the commission losing the challenge at the Windhoek High Court over the deregistration of NEFF.

“The issue here is that the electoral commission needs to maintain its credibility. There is a need for it to be seen to be fair and impartial,” he said.

Mulongeni emphasised that it is necessary for the appointing authority to consider dismissing some of the commissioners to safeguard the credibility of the ECN during the upcoming elections.

The ECN lost a court challenge after deregistering NEFF for failing to submit annual financial reports in June.

The commission’s decision was overturned by the Windhoek High court on Thursday.

Weighing in on the issue, Landless People’s Movement spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa said there is a need to deal with public institutions over issues of public trust.

“ … There is value in ensuring there are institutions that can safeguard the overuse or abuse of power and ensure corruption in any form is dealt with,” he said.

However, instead of firing the commissioners, Simataa said the existing institutions meant to deal with these matters should be strengthened.

“Allowing them a larger mandate and in turn a bigger budget and teeth to complete its mandate, therefore also injecting public trust into these institutions,” he added.

*Read more in The Namibian.