New political era begins with opposition complaints

The victory of 69-year-old President-elect Hifikepunye Pohamba in the Namibian presidential elections last week heralds a new political era. He succeeds founding president Sam Nujoma, 75, who will step down in March next year after three terms in office. Pohamba, standing against six other candidates, secured 76.4 percent of the vote. The ruling party, SWAPO, scooped a 76 percent share in a nine-party parliamentary contest - the same percentage it won in 1999. "Namibia is a vast country with a small population - we need each other to decisively contribute to the social and economic wellbeing. Let us all join hands and march in unison towards social and economic progress," Pohamba urged in his acceptance speech on Sunday. He promised to concentrate on education, health, black empowerment and the fight against HIV/AIDS during his five-year term. "A special consideration will be given to the women entering into business endeavours," Pohamba promised. His government would also adhere to human rights, and fight against crime and corruption, he said. Opposition parties, hoping for a larger show of support in the country's third elections since independence in 1990, were disappointed. They maintained 17 seats in the 72-member parliament, the same number won in 1999. In a silent protest over the electoral process, five opposition leaders stayed away from Sunday's official result announcement. President of the Congress of Democrats (CoD) Ben Ulenga said he doubted the accuracy of ballot counting. Both the CoD and the Republican Party (RP) sent a letter to the electoral commission prior to the official announcement of the results on Sunday, demanding an immediate audit of the votes in their presence. They also complained about the extremely slow counting process and insisted the official announcement of results be delayed until the audit. The turnout of close to one million voters, almost 100,000 more than in the 1999 elections, was unusually high - around 85 percent - compared to 61 percent five years ago. The counting process took four days, with results trickling in at snail's pace. "We want to know why the electoral commission printed double the amount of ballot papers needed," complained Albert Kandjii, administrative secretary of the opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). "They printed 1.8 million ballot papers - that gives opportunity for fraud." All opposition parties claimed they only got access to the full voters' roll four days before the elections on 15 and 16 November. "The list was incomplete, with lists of five of the 13 country's regions missing - so we could not verify the roll, and it was impossible to get copies in time to all our regional offices before the elections," Tsudao Gurirab, national chairman of the CoD, told IRIN. But the chairman of Namibia's electoral commission, Victor Tonchi, maintained that the voters' roll had been published in an official Government Gazette in mid-October. "That is required by the law. The commission need not advertise this in newspapers or make the public aware through the media", Tonchi told IRIN. "All political parties had weekly meetings with the commission before the elections, and we always asked about the voters' roll," said Carola Engelbrecht, secretary general of the RP. "We got evasive answers and were never informed it was available at magistrate's courts for public scrutiny." While local and international election observers called on the electoral commission to review its counting process, Tonchi on Sunday admitted it needed to be improved and accelerated. Gloria Somolekae, leader of an observer team from the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), said, "It is imperative that the electoral commission strives to ensure that the voters' roll is made publicly accessible in good time, in conformity with the Electoral Act." EISA also noted that that political parties' access to the public media during elections "tended to be skewed more in favour of the incumbent party, and this situation inevitably raised concerns from other electoral stakeholders". However, the EISA team found the electoral process was free and fair, "with room for further improvement". The Southern African Development Community observer mission, led by speaker of the Angolan parliament Roberto de Almeida, also found the elections free and fair. The CoD lost two of its seven seats, the DTA three of its seven seats, and the National Unity Democratic Organisation, a breakaway of the DTA, won three. The RP, another DTA offshoot, managed to get a foot in the door of parliament with one seat. The United Democratic Front, under Chief Justus Garoeb, won three seats, up from two seats in 1999. The Monitor Action Group, led by Kosie Pretorius, kept the solitary seat it has held since 1990.