Former ECN Director’s court case postponed to September

THE fraud case the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has made against its former Director of Elections and two others has been set down for September this year.

Originally the case was supposed to be heard on Monday but one of the accused had a problem with the availability of a lawyer.’A new date was provided yesterday morning at the Windhoek Regional Court by Magistrate Sarel Jacobs for September 14 this year,’ Philemon Kanime, the former ECN Director of Elections, confirmed to The Namibian yesterday.’Four court days were set down until September 17,’ he said.The fraud charges against Kanime, ECN official Nicodemus Mingelius and a voter, Magnus Nangombe, stem from preparations in February 2008 for the municipal election in the newly proclaimed town of Omuthiya. Nangombe’s name allegedly appeared fraudulently on the voters’ roll. The ECN claims that Mingelius forged an application for Nangombe to register as a voter at Omuthiya. Nangombe was listed as RDP candidate for the Omuthiya Town Council. The municipal election was scheduled for February 29 2008, but was called off at the last minute amidst accusations of inefficiency and questions of political loyalty. It was postponed until September 2008.Kanime was put on ‘special leave’ in March 2008 while his deputy, Ananias Elago, Chief Control Officer Hesekiel Shigwedha and Chief System Administrator Nicodemus Mingelius were suspended for several months in the aftermath of the Omuthiya election. Elago, Mingelius and the others were reinstated about five months later and no disciplinary hearings were conducted. The ECN scrapped Nangombe’s name from the list after Swapo claimed Kanime had allegedly smuggled Nangombe onto the voters’ roll, as Nangombe had allegedly registered after the official cut-off date. Kanime’s ‘special leave’ lasted until his term of office ended September 2008.