Warning on election violence

The Namibian Society for human Rights (NSHR) on Wednesday sent President Sam Nujoma what it called an “early warning” to do all he can to prevent violence in the run-up to general elections at the end of the month. In an open letter to the president, the society’s executive director, Phil ya Nangoloh, said: “As the human rights monitoring and advocacy organisation in this country, we are directing this message to Your Excellency to bring to your very urgent attention what appears to be a deliberate campaign of intimidation.” He said it was a campaign aimed at denying parties other than the ruling Southwest Africa Peoples organisation (SWAPO) access to the electorate, especially the country’s four majority ethnic Ovambo districts. The country’s 700,000 voters go to the polls on 30 November and 1 December in two-day presidential and parliamentary election, during which SWAPO will face the challenge of a new political party, the Congress of Democrats (CoD), led by a former SWAPO dissident and ambassador to Britain, Ben Ulenga. Nujoma, 70, has led SWAPO since 1960, and became head of state when the nation won independence from South Africa in 1990. The party swept the last elections in 1994 which passed off without violence or intimidation. In the letter to Nujoma, copies of which were also sent to the home affairs minister, Jerry Ekandjo, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Judge S. Mtambanengwe and other officials, he wrote: “We have received and continue to receive reliable reports, and on several occasions we ourselves have witnessed, how members and supporters of the SWAPO Party of Namibia deliberately disrupted meetings of the CoD.” In most instances, the letter said, shortly before a CoD rally starts, SWAPO supporters turn out in a vehicle or vehicles fitted with loudspeakers and attempt to drown out the speeches. In some cases, schoolchildren aged between 8 and 14 had been encouraged to prevent people attending the CoD rallies. “Needless to say, Mr President, this state of affairs is not only in complete conflict with the common law of this country, but also in conflict with the very Constitution of which Your Excellency is the prime custodian,” the letter said. “Unless such a campaign of intimidation is immediately discontinued, this might have a negative bearing on the freeness and fairness of the present elections.” The society urged Nujoma to publicly denounce such intimidation and acts of violence.