Oshakati election officials complain of harassment by party agents

Election officials from two polling stations at Oshakati claim agents from some political parties have harassed them and accused them of allowing foreigners to vote.

This occurred after two buses transported voters, allegedly from the Kavango East region, to vote at Oshakati on Saturday afternoon.

Onlookers claimed that Hofni Iipinge, a central committee member of Swapo, was seen ushering the voters off the buses.

Iipinge refused to comment on the matter.

One of the buses is owned by the Swapo company Namib Contract Haulage, while the other is operated by Emangweni.

Namibian voters are not restricted from voting in regions where they do not reside.

“They moved in groups of five to fifteen, asking us why we allowed foreigners to vote. We have not even seen the people they are talking about,” said Loide Eelu, the presiding officer at the Okandjengedi polling station at Oshakati.

She said she did not know which political parties the agents are from.

“They are harassing us and making our work difficult,” Eelu added.

Leta Amweelo, a colleague of Eelu at the Onawa Kindergarten polling station, said two agents from political parties visited her polling station looking for foreign nationals attempting to vote in Namibia.

“I explained to them that foreign nationals are not allowed to vote in Namibia. They asked me whether the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) did not train us to lie,” she said.

Oshakati has four open polling stations where voters can participate in the extended elections.

The polling stations opened on Friday and are due to close at 21h00 on Saturday.