New twist in ECN probe

THE Electoral Commission of Namibia has decided to appoint an independent team of investigators to probe how a list of 700 Rally for Democracy and Progress members and sympathisers ended up in the wrong hands.

Elections Director Philemon Kanime told The Namibian that the commissioners met on Wednesday and decided that they needed an independent team of investigators for the work. “We don’t want to investigate it ourselves.The public must have confidence in the work of the ECN.We will make public the findings as soon as possible,” Kanime said.The list was copied illegally and distributed to people who were not entitled to have it, despite the Electoral Act not permitting such action.Last week, the RDP’s interim Chairman Jesaya Nyamu told the media that the document was photocopied at various places, including Government institutions and offices such as the Attorney General and Justice Ministry, the Government Institutions Pension Fund and the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation.Several civil servants whose names appear on the party list submitted to the Electoral Commission have been threatened with dismissal if they do not distance themselves from the RDP publicly, Nyamu claimed.Various branches of the Swapo Youth League have urged Swapo to identify everyone on the RDP’s membership list and to summarily kick them out of the ruling party before the upcoming congress, which starts on November 27, while the Swapo Central Committee will meet on November 25 and 26.”We don’t want to investigate it ourselves.The public must have confidence in the work of the ECN.We will make public the findings as soon as possible,” Kanime said.The list was copied illegally and distributed to people who were not entitled to have it, despite the Electoral Act not permitting such action. Last week, the RDP’s interim Chairman Jesaya Nyamu told the media that the document was photocopied at various places, including Government institutions and offices such as the Attorney General and Justice Ministry, the Government Institutions Pension Fund and the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation.Several civil servants whose names appear on the party list submitted to the Electoral Commission have been threatened with dismissal if they do not distance themselves from the RDP publicly, Nyamu claimed.Various branches of the Swapo Youth League have urged Swapo to identify everyone on the RDP’s membership list and to summarily kick them out of the ruling party before the upcoming congress, which starts on November 27, while the Swapo Central Committee will meet on November 25 and 26.