The Hunt

By: Political Perspective

SO it's year end, and to forget the depressing news about the country's perilous financial situation, everybody who's anybody goes a-hunting.

And if you weren't on the President's VIP list for the (apparently

annual) hunting spree scheduled for this weekend, or aren't a

member of the National Youth Service which was given agricultural

land worth N$2,5 million from the Contingency Fund; or haven't yet

got your own redistributed piece of property; then you can line up

to get hold of one of the recently-announced hunting concessions

for black empowerment groups, and while you decimate our game, you

can think of how we can solve our national debt and why we had to

pay N$60 million for the just-held elections from the

abovementioned Fund ...

AND whereas there was undoubtedly a good turnout for the

National and Presidential elections, and another resounding victory

for Swapo from an unquestioning electorate who can always still

blame the apartheid government for our current financial plight

even 14 years down the line, there was rampant apathy in the

Regional polls that followed.

 

Considering that we paid the Electoral Commission some N$30

million to do their job, it is quite astounding that they managed

to mess up so much of it.

 

N$20 million to the Police to, among others, guard the ballot

boxes, which nevertheless were pillaged in an as-yet unexplained

incident; and another N$8 million for the military for elections

monitoring, adds up to an awful lot of money.

 

While elections don't come free, given the circumstances, I

wonder what and who we were actually paying for and why this came

as an 'unexpected' expense.

 

I was trying to fathom why there was such apathy for the

regional elections, compared with the enthusiasm for the national

ones, and a prominent political personality suggested something to

me which really makes sense, and I wonder why the Electoral

Commission, given all that money, didn't give some thought to

this.

 

Regional Elections should never have been held after the

National and Presidential, because by then most people felt that

the political battle had been won.

 

So strategically, in future, the EC must hold regional elections

first, national and presidential later.

 

In this way they can build up interest and enthusiasm.

 

This isn't of course, the only reason that there is limited

interest in regional elections.

 

Regional Councils themselves remain largely undefined, with a

negligible mandate simply to refer legislation back to the National

Assembly.

 

That doesn't give them much clout, and neither it appears, do

our regional councillors, even if they do represent the ruling

party, have very much clout in their respective communities.

 

This is partially because of their lack of a mandate, and

partially due to their own scant interest in their communities

and/or constituencies.

 

Most Namibians seem to know at this point what National and

Presidential Elections are all about.

 

Doesn't take much thought or intellectual exercise to work out

that you mark the Presidential candidate and the party of your

choice.

 

But regional elections obviously confuse people and where

there's ignorance or lack of knowledge, people are scared away.

 

But there was political interference as well, so some believe

that if candidates are determined at national level, what's the

point to vote for someone you didn't choose in the first place?

Something needs to be done about this.

 

They cost a lot of money to maintain, but seem to be largely a

pretext to show communities have a voice, which is not really the

case when all is said and done.

 

Everything still gets decided at national level, and the

National Council is largely a rubber stamp that occasionally flexes

a bit of muscle in referring proposed laws back to Parliament.

 

The Electoral Commission seems to wash their hands of all blame,

especially regarding voter turnout.

 

Director of Elections Philemon Kanime said it was up to the

political parties to mobilise voters and get them to the polls and

they obviously didn't if one looks at the lacklustre turnout.

 

But maybe he should remember that election information material

was not inserted in the country's largest newspaper because of a

Government ban, and that there it is possible that this had an

effect as well! Anyhow, as usual, it's year end and our who's who

are looking forward to killing the odd Springbok or two.

 

Namibians generally prepare to take leave of absence from the

business of nearly everything for the year-end recess, and few

people can be bothered to have to think about anything too taxing,

like a financial crisis, until the New Year comes around.

 

Happy hunting!

 

AND whereas there was undoubtedly a good turnout for the National

and Presidential elections, and another resounding victory for

Swapo from an unquestioning electorate who can always still blame

the apartheid government for our current financial plight even 14

years down the line, there was rampant apathy in the Regional polls

that followed.Considering that we paid the Electoral Commission

some N$30 million to do their job, it is quite astounding that they

managed to mess up so much of it.N$20 million to the Police to,

among others, guard the ballot boxes, which nevertheless were

pillaged in an as-yet unexplained incident; and another N$8 million

for the military for elections monitoring, adds up to an awful lot

of money.While elections don't come free, given the circumstances,

I wonder what and who we were actually paying for and why this came

as an 'unexpected' expense.I was trying to fathom why there was

such apathy for the regional elections, compared with the

enthusiasm for the national ones, and a prominent political

personality suggested something to me which really makes sense, and

I wonder why the Electoral Commission, given all that money, didn't

give some thought to this.Regional Elections should never have been

held after the National and Presidential, because by then most

people felt that the political battle had been won.So

strategically, in future, the EC must hold regional elections

first, national and presidential later.In this way they can build

up interest and enthusiasm.This isn't of course, the only reason

that there is limited interest in regional elections.Regional

Councils themselves remain largely undefined, with a negligible

mandate simply to refer legislation back to the National

Assembly.That doesn't give them much clout, and neither it appears,

do our regional councillors, even if they do represent the ruling

party, have very much clout in their respective communities.This is

partially because of their lack of a mandate, and partially due to

their own scant interest in their communities and/or

constituencies.Most Namibians seem to know at this point what

National and Presidential Elections are all about.Doesn't take much

thought or intellectual exercise to work out that you mark the

Presidential candidate and the party of your choice.But regional

elections obviously confuse people and where there's ignorance or

lack of knowledge, people are scared away.But there was political

interference as well, so some believe that if candidates are

determined at national level, what's the point to vote for someone

you didn't choose in the first place? Something needs to be done

about this.They cost a lot of money to maintain, but seem to be

largely a pretext to show communities have a voice, which is not

really the case when all is said and done.Everything still gets

decided at national level, and the National Council is largely a

rubber stamp that occasionally flexes a bit of muscle in referring

proposed laws back to Parliament.The Electoral Commission seems to

wash their hands of all blame, especially regarding voter

turnout.Director of Elections Philemon Kanime said it was up to the

political parties to mobilise voters and get them to the polls and

they obviously didn't if one looks at the lacklustre turnout.But

maybe he should remember that election information material was not

inserted in the country's largest newspaper because of a Government

ban, and that there it is possible that this had an effect as well!

Anyhow, as usual, it's year end and our who's who are looking

forward to killing the odd Springbok or two.Namibians generally

prepare to take leave of absence from the business of nearly

everything for the year-end recess, and few people can be bothered

to have to think about anything too taxing, like a financial

crisis, until the New Year comes around.Happy hunting!

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