Confusion about where to register

POLITICAL parties asked the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) yesterday to extend the days for the supplementary voters’ registration as they fear that thousands of voters lost out earlier this month, when a strike in South Africa caused election materials to arrive late in Namibia and local hiccups with Government vehicles delayed the transport of these materials to many registration points in the country.

Another problem has come up, which is the confusion about where voters must register during the supplementary registration process, namely in the case of school children or university students who live at boarding schools or hostels, but their parents living at Swakopmund, Gobabis or Oshakati. The Namibian has reliably learnt that some students at a private school in Windhoek, who originally come from other towns or farms, were first registered in the capital, but were told afterwards that their registration had been cancelled.They were allegedly told they must travel home to their family’s residence and register there. The Namibian has been provided the names of four 18-year-old pupils at a Windhoek private school who were told to travel home to register there. One of these born-frees, or first time voters, had his voter card taken away.’That youngster then provided the Windhoek address of a relative and thus could obtain a voter’s card,’ a member of an opposition party told The Namibian and showed the reporter their names and voter registration numbers.’I don’t know how the confusion came about, because voters can register anywhere in the country,’ Theo Mujoro, Deputy Director of Operations at the ECN, told The Namibian yesterday. ‘If a family lives at Swakopmund for example, but their child now studies at the University of Namibia in Windhoek and lives in a hostel there or with relatives and provides the address of Unam or the relatives, that youngster can of course register in Windhoek,’ Mujoro said.Opposition parties had asked for a special meeting with the ECN yesterday morning, which took place at noon and lasted for one hour.Parties were adamant that the ECN should urgently use television and radio channels to make public announcements to that effect.They also asked the ECN to extend the period for supplementary registration, which ends on Wednesday. ‘Even Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, who attended the meeting in her capacity as Swapo Secretary General, wanted more days for registration,’ a person who attended the meeting told The Namibian.ECN Director of Elections Moses Ndjarakana told the meeting he would consult with the Acting Attorney General, Presidential Affairs Minister Albert Kawana, about a possible extension.But Mujoro said that depended on the ‘stakeholders – the political parties’. ‘So far, no decision has been taken whether to extend the voter registration date or not,’ Mujoro said. Parties were also irritated that some registration points did not stay open until 21h00, but closed at 19h00 and some even at 17h00. ‘We only heard on the radio that we should be open until 21h00,’ a temporary staff member at a registration point in Windhoek East told The Namibian.