Date set for Tsumeb poll

THE Oshikoto Region’s Tsumeb constituency is set to be the battleground for this year’s second election match-up between Namibia’s main political parties.

March 30 has been designated in the Government Gazette as the date on which the Tsumeb constituency’s registered voters will be able to go to the polls to choose a new regional councillor, following the resignation of Swapo’s Nico Kaiyamo from the post at the end of last year. According to Anna Koll, Senior Chief Control Officer in the Directorate of Elections, supplementary registration of voters in the constituency – where 9 135 people are on the voters’ list, is set to take place between March 4 and 6.The day after the by-election will be devoted to the counting of ballots.Political parties will have to nominate their election candidates on Wednesday next week, February 25, while independent candidates will have to be nominated on Monday, February 23, Koll added.The by-election is the second one this year – following last week’s by-election at Grootfontein – in which a number of opposition parties will do battle.They will have a chance to test their support against Swapo in a constituency in which the ruling party has enjoyed solid majorities in all elections since Independence.None of the parties’ candidates have been chosen yet, but Swapo Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, Congress of Democrats leader Ben Ulenga and Chief Kuaima Riruako – leader of a recent DTA-breakaway party, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) – all announced this week that their parties would nominate candidates to contest the by-election.DTA leader Katuutire Kaura said the DTA-UDF coalition would field a candidate, but it was still to be decided, together with the UDF, who the candidate would be and under which of the coalition partners’ banner he or she would take part.Republican Party Secretary Carola Engelbrecht said yesterday that the RP, which also broke away from the DTA last year, was still weighing its options.She said the party would first have to test the waters at Tsumeb – not having worked there before – unlike at Grootfontein.There the RP, despite being optimistic about its chances, came out of last week’s by-election in fifth and last place.As at Grootfontein, the Swapo candidate nominated for Tsumeb is set to go into the by-election as a strong favourite.In all elections at the town since Independence, the ruling party has scored overwhelming victories with its share of the vote reaching as high as 78,5 per cent in the 1998 local authority election.At its lowest ebb – in the 1999 National Assembly election – Swapo’s support delivered 64,9 per cent of votes cast.The DTA’s history in elections in the Tsumeb constituency – previously called the Oshikoto constituency – has, as in most other parts of the country, been one of flagging fortunes since Independence.From drawing 22,5 per cent of the vote in the then Oshikoto constituency in the first Regional Council elections of 1992, the DTA’s share fell to 16,4 per cent in the 1994 National Assembly election, 13,9 per cent in the 1998 Regional Council poll and to 7,2 per cent in the 1999 National Assembly elections.In the process, the UDF surpassed its current coalition partner when it increased its share of the vote from about 5,5 per cent in the 1994 National Assembly elections to 8,1 per cent in the 1999 National Assembly poll.The CoD attracted 18 per cent of the votes at Tsumeb in its first participation in an election for the National Assembly in 1999.According to Anna Koll, Senior Chief Control Officer in the Directorate of Elections, supplementary registration of voters in the constituency – where 9 135 people are on the voters’ list, is set to take place between March 4 and 6. The day after the by-election will be devoted to the counting of ballots. Political parties will have to nominate their election candidates on Wednesday next week, February 25, while independent candidates will have to be nominated on Monday, February 23, Koll added. The by-election is the second one this year – following last week’s by-election at Grootfontein – in which a number of opposition parties will do battle. They will have a chance to test their support against Swapo in a constituency in which the ruling party has enjoyed solid majorities in all elections since Independence. None of the parties’ candidates have been chosen yet, but Swapo Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, Congress of Democrats leader Ben Ulenga and Chief Kuaima Riruako – leader of a recent DTA-breakaway party, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) – all announced this week that their parties would nominate candidates to contest the by-election. DTA leader Katuutire Kaura said the DTA-UDF coalition would field a candidate, but it was still to be decided, together with the UDF, who the candidate would be and under which of the coalition partners’ banner he or she would take part. Republican Party Secretary Carola Engelbrecht said yesterday that the RP, which also broke away from the DTA last year, was still weighing its options. She said the party would first have to test the waters at Tsumeb – not having worked there before – unlike at Grootfontein. There the RP, despite being optimistic about its chances, came out of last week’s by-election in fifth and last place. As at Grootfontein, the Swapo candidate nominated for Tsumeb is set to go into the by-election as a strong favourite. In all elections at the town since Independence, the ruling party has scored overwhelming victories with its share of the vote reaching as high as 78,5 per cent in the 1998 local authority election. At its lowest ebb – in the 1999 National Assembly election – Swapo’s support delivered 64,9 per cent of votes cast. The DTA’s history in elections in the Tsumeb constituency – previously called the Oshikoto constituency – has, as in most other parts of the country, been one of flagging fortunes since Independence. From drawing 22,5 per cent of the vote in the then Oshikoto constituency in the first Regional Council elections of 1992, the DTA’s share fell to 16,4 per cent in the 1994 National Assembly election, 13,9 per cent in the 1998 Regional Council poll and to 7,2 per cent in the 1999 National Assembly elections. In the process, the UDF surpassed its current coalition partner when it increased its share of the vote from about 5,5 per cent in the 1994 National Assembly elections to 8,1 per cent in the 1999 National Assembly poll. The CoD attracted 18 per cent of the votes at Tsumeb in its first participation in an election for the National Assembly in 1999.