Voters object to Ndjarakana’s reappointment

Tileni Mongudhi

THE 2009 election saga has come back to haunt Moses Ndjarakana, the then Director of Elections, after three objections against his reappointment were lodged with the Electoral Commission of Namibia a day before he was interviewed as one of the five shortlisted candidates for the commission’s top job.

Three registered voters last week used their right as provided by Section 11 of the Electoral Act to lodge a complaint or objection against any of the shortlisted candidates before the interviews started.

Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) mobilisation secretary Libolly Haufiku, political activist Carola Engelbrecht and Paul Thomas objected to Ndjarakana’s appointment.

Haufiku and Engelbrecht also objected to the appointment of former ECN Director of Operations Ananias Elago.

All three objections to Ndjarakana’s appointment originate from the court case where nine opposition parties challenged the outcome of the 2009 polls.

As part of his judgement in the election challenge, Judge President Petrus Damaseb criticised the ECN under Ndjarakana.

“Although the election challenge did not meet the test for the invalidation of the National Assembly results, it raised fundamental issues about electoral governance in the country and the need to run electoral affairs in a manner that avoids unnecessary suspicion created by those who run the elections,” Damaseb said.

The Judge President also took on Ndjarakana for dodging questions and not fulfilling his responsibilities towards the opposition parties.

At the time, Damaseb even went as far as requesting the Prosecutor General, Martha Imalwa, to take action against Ndjarakana for alleged perjury.

Engelbrecht on Friday quoted Damaseb who said: “The conduct of the first respondent’s Director in the litigation calls for special mention and censure. The word of the Director of Election must be something that a court should not lightly second-guess in contested litigation and the public must have confidence in what he or she says and does in the conduct of public affairs. That is no small matter because as the election application has demonstrated elections evoke a great deal of emotion and controversy.”

Damaseb further added that “it will be a sad day indeed for this fledgling democracy if, after this verdict, those who manage elections think they have been completely vindicated and therefore to continue with business as usual. These remarks are necessary to further support the special cost order that this court intends to make”.

Haufiku added that both he and the RDP were not comfortable with Ndjarakana’s reappointment because Damaseb’s words put a question mark on his integrity.

Although he could not provide exact details to the ECN Commissioners, Haufiku said his office followed up with the Prosecutor General’s Office about Damaseb’s demand that Ndjarakana be charged for perjury.

When given an opportunity to respond during the interviews, Ndjarakana said the Supreme Court dealt with Damaseb’s judgement.

“I will not have an argument with the Judge President while the Supreme Court has already dealt with the JP’s judgment,” Ndjarakana said.

He also said that the court system provided judges with “unfettered discretion” to exercise professional qualification in their judgments and that he would, therefore, not go into the details of what the court said.

Thomas said with Ndjarakana at the helm of the ECN, public trust in the election body will not exist.

Haufiku accused Elago of demonstrating an unwillingness to work with opposition parties when he refused them access to material and information during previous elections. Furthermore, Haufiku in his objection raised the fact that Elago was a member of the ruling party.

During the interview, Elago responded to all these allegations saying that he was a professional who can distinguish between Swapo and the ECN. He also said he works as part of a structure at the ECN and not in isolation.

According to Engelbrecht, Elago was part of the ECN that created the situation which led to the election challenge. She also questioned Elago’s ability to be independent.

Director of Finance, Administration and Human Resources at the Ministry of Safety and Security Welma Enssle, Executive Director of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC), Alberts Munyanya Kulobone and Paul John Isaak, a lecturer at the University of Namibia were the other three candidates shortlisted for the ECN job.