Political parties push back as ECN cuts South Africa trip funding

Several political parties have threatened to boycott the upcoming regional council and local authority elections if the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) does not fund their trip to observe ballot paper printing in South Africa. As a practice, the ECN is normally accompanied by various party representatives to observe the process of printing ballot papers. The parties say the commission should have a budget for this as per its mandate, but they have been told it has no budget and they should therefore fully fund this endeavour themselves. ECN spokesperson De Wet Siluka yesterday said the decision was made due to limited financial resources. “The ECN reviewed the cost implications based on the 2024 exercise and it would have incurred expenses totalling N$523 698 for accommodation and meals. Last year it cost the ECN over N$400 000,” he said. Accommodating this would result in the commission incurring significant expenditure as the current scope of observation includes about 53 registered political parties and associations, in addition to an estimated more than 60 independent candidates, deemed to be impossible and financially imprudent. During a press conference political parties held in Windhoek yesterday, chairperson Manuel Ngaringombe, the secretary general of the Popular Democratic Movement, called on Namibians to boycott the November elections. He said the commission is compromising the elections by not sponsoring political parties to accompany it to South Africa. This could lead to ballot rigging, Ngaringombe said. “Political parties or the ECN do not lead parties, but the electorate. Namibians must stand up and not go to the ballots if the political parties take that stand,” he said. Ngaringombe said if the ECN goes through with its decision, the parties would not validate the ballot papers. “Different suggestions were made at the meeting in September. The ECN was supposed to think about it and revert to its stakeholders. “One was that 100% or 50% expenses are to be paid by the ECN and 50% by the stakeholders themselves, or some political parties would represent all other parties, and the ECN would pay for that,” he said. Ngaringombe said the ECN questioned political parties on 14 October on their stand, where all agreed that the ECN should pay for such a trip. The ECN, however, informed them it has no budget as available funds were used to conduct by-elections. Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters spokesperson Teresia Hamurenge yesterday said the ECN is insulting parties through this directive when only five days are left to visit Uniprint Global, the South African company which won the ballot paper tender worth N$4.8 million. National Unity Democratic Organisation secretary general Joseph Uapingene yesterday urged Namibians to stand up against injustice and parties to unite and not be “ECN pleasers”. “If we take this stand, let us see it through. Let us not have some who are taking a stand and others who are not. This would defeat the purpose,” he said. Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Eneas Emvula yesterday said the ECN leadership should be fired. Some smaller parties stated that they do not have such funds available, and that the ECN ought to have had the budget for this exercise.