Namibia’s ride to its most historic elections yet

As Namibians gear up to usher in their first female president, many are grappling with how Namibia’s watershed and historic polls turned into the young democracy’s most questionable elections.

After winning the Swapo elective congress in 2022, former president Hage Geingob warned Swapo’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah how heavy her leadership task would be.

“This is a big day, we have made history by electing the first female president come 2024. I would like to tell her that your task ahead is a heavy one,” he said at the time.

Before she ascends to succeed incumbent president Nangolo Mbumba, the process that elected her was marred with the good, the bad and the ugly.

Here’s how:

VOTER EDUCATION

With the number of rejected ballot papers amounting to approximately 28 000, the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) faces criticism for not conducting sufficient voter education, leading to the high number of rejected ballots – constituting about 1% of the overall voting populace.

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah says the high number of rejected ballots could be the result of poor voter education.

In February of this year, the ECN launched a nationwide civic education campaign to inform and encourage citizens to participate in the registration process, as well as presidential and National Assembly elections.

ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka told The Namibian the ECN had rolled out a civic education programme in all 121 constituencies in the last two years as part of its strategic plan for 2022 to 2027.

This suggests that the ECN, indeed, took the process around voter education seriously. However, it also begs the question of just how effective this process was.

The issue of the rejected ballot papers may indicate that more should have been done, particularly as ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua noted, more research.

“We need to conduct proper research and analyse how the ballot papers are rejected and the basis for their rejection […] The commission started doing voter education two years ago in preparation for the polls, and political parties have also done their own voter education,” she said this week.

REGISTRATION

Young Namibians and politicians in particular were satisfied when the ECN managed to successfully register 900 000 Namibians born after 1982. This was out of 1.4 million registered Namibian voters.

This fact solidified the purported power shift from those who grew up during the liberation struggle to a generation that was increasingly concerned with current and future issues.

The ECN partnered with various stakeholders to make this happen. During registration, more than 100 young people, including first-time voters, took to the streets of Windhoek in line with the ECN’s call to register for the national elections.

The walk was organised by Tukwatha Youth Organisation, founded by Hendrina Kudhingililwa, and proved to be extremely successful, with the ECN achieving a 91% registration rate of the eligible voters.

Speaking to The Namibian at the time, Kamwanyah said the ECN had a big task ahead of translating the impressive voter registration rate into actual poll turnout.

“Ensuring that this enthusiasm is maintained up to election day will be crucial for a strong voter turnout,” he said.

The ECN heard him. About 1.1 million Namibians turned up to vote for the 2024 general elections. As per the ECN’s mandate and calendar, everything was going to plan.

CAMPAIGNING

Political analyst Marius Kudumo says during campaign season, parties focused on many issues.

These included important topics like tackling youth unemployment, improving food security (since Namibia relies on food imports), better public services, rural development, fighting corruption and promoting fair economic growth.

Kudumo said some parties also focused on the unresolved land issue in Namibia “in the context of Namibia being a settler colony and implications on resolving the land question, and on genocide, apology and reparation, consistent with the Genocide Convention and international law.

“One movement, Affirmative Repositioning, raised key unique issues of decisive leadership, policies grounded in the African experiences, recognition of indigenous languages as languages of education, science and official use, and also, the critical role of a capable developmental state in development characterised by meritocracy in appointments,” he said.

THE POT THAT COOKED

While the ECN was busy with its administration hurdles, the other side of the divide saw political parties inundated with campaigns for the election of their parliamentary candidates during this election cycle.

Electoral colleges are a crucial part of the National Assembly elections, and Swapo set the tone at the Gateway Centre in September, when they added a 22-year-old University of Namibia student on the list.

This was according to Nandi-Ndaitwah’s prerogative.

It also saw the flushing of the old guards, like founding president Sam Nujoma’s son, Utoni Nujoma, who joined Jerry Ekandjo, Kaire Mbuende and others who struggled to make it high up on the list.

The young crop, including Emma Theofelus, Sharonice Busch and Feni Tutjavi, did make it high on the list, indicating that Swapomay have wanted to appeal to a younger electorate or usher in a fresher crop of leaders.

The Popular Democratic Movement also assumed a similar tone when its president McHenry Venaani was the saving grace for the youthful Maximalliant Katjimune, Inna Hengari and Winnie Moongo.

While these young leaders initially failed to make it onto the party list, they were selected courtesy of one of Venaani’s perks as leader.

The Independent Patriots for Change’s electoral college was similar to that of Swapo in that their presidents did not make the list, as both parties were confident that their party leaders would emerge victorious at the polls.

As this was happening, parties such as the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), the South West Africa National Union (Swanu) and the Rally for Democracy and Progress were marred by divisions and infighting.

Political scientist Rui Tyitende at the time told The Namibian this worked in Swapo’s favour.

“Opposition political parties are not doing themselves any favours […] Their internal squabbles work in the ruling party’s favour,”he said.

Eventually, The Namibian reported that Nudo’s Barry Rukuro pledged allegiance to Evilastus Kaaronda’s Swanu in exchange for parliamentary seats, while Nudo decided not to field a presidential candidate.

After all was said and done, the campaign season and the politicking simmered down by the weekend before the fatefulWednesday, as parties held their last rallies to sway voters their way.

– This story has been shortened. Read the full article on The Namibian’s social media platforms.