Otjinene by-election flops

POLITICAL parties are divided over the fate of the suspended Otjinene constituency by-election, which was supposed to elect a new regional councillor.

Where voting was stopped, both the ruling Swapo Party and the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) want the process to resume immediately. For its part, the DTA has called for a complete re-run of the process within a month.Voting in the Otjinene constituency which, for the purposes of the current by-election incorporates the Epukiro constituency, was halted at about 16h00 on Friday after most polling stations ran out of ballot papers.Investigations revealed that the Electoral Commission had only sent 4 400 ballot papers for both Otjinene and Epukiro.The two constituencies combined have over 7 000 registered voters.”It was costly to prepare for this by-election …we are a new party with few resources, it [the costs] will be worse if the whole process is re-started all over,” Nudo’s Secretary for Information, Adolf Kangootui, said.Swapo’s District Co-ordinator for Otjinene, Uaapi Ndjavera, also mentioned cost as the main reason why his party wanted to resume voting without delay.”We have already spent a lot on the campaigns; if this delay is prolonged it will cost more to keep in touch with our electorate,” Ndjavera said.The DTA’s Lesley Kauandara called for the by-election to be declared “null and void”, alleging that, apart from the shortage of ballot papers, the election was marred by several irregularities.”We want the whole process to start afresh so that the Commission gets an opportunity to train its officials (polling officers) – their conduct left a lot to be desired,” he charged.One specific incident Kauandara cited was that of a used ballot box that allegedly fell from a moving vehicle when the mobile team was returning from one of the remote polling stations.The box was apparently partially damaged and ballot papers had to be picked up from the dusty road.Kauandara told The Namibian that it could be difficult to get the 3 000 people who had not yet voted back to the polling stations.”We already have a problem of voter apathy, and, when the people are willing to vote, there is a blunder by the Commission,” he said.The DTA held the Otjinene seat until earlier this year when Councillor Billy Katjatenja resigned and defected to Nudo – which had, a few months earlier, pulled out of the DTA alliance.Director of Elections Philemon Kanime conceded that last year’s separation of Epukiro from the Otjinene constituency might have led to an oversight on the part of Commission when dispatching voting material to that area.By late yesterday, Kanime could not speculate on the fate of the suspended by-election.He said a decision would have to be made after the Electoral Commission met today.”We want this issue to be solved as soon as possible,” he said.”All those questions [about the fate of the by-election] we will be answered by tomorrow [Monday], not the political parties.”Meanwhile, the DTA became the main loser in the other four regional council by-elections:Swapo and Nudo took two of the four seats each.The ruling party took the Omatako and Tsumkwe constituencies in the Otjozondjupa Region, pipping Nudo by 528 and 477 votes respectively.Nudo, in turn, convincingly won the Okakarara constituency of Otjozondjupa and the Omaheke Region’s Aminuis constituency.At Okakarara, the party was voted in by 3 766 people, compared to 1 685 for their closest rival, Swapo.At Aminuis, Nudo scored 2 630 votes, while second-placed Swapo had 914.The DTA, which previously controlled all four constituencies, performed dismally in the by-elections, managing only 1 191 votes in its former Okakarara stronghold, 545 at Tsumkwe and 477 and 381 in the Aminuis and Omatako constituencies respectively.For its part, the DTA has called for a complete re-run of the process within a month.Voting in the Otjinene constituency which, for the purposes of the current by-election incorporates the Epukiro constituency, was halted at about 16h00 on Friday after most polling stations ran out of ballot papers.Investigations revealed that the Electoral Commission had only sent 4 400 ballot papers for both Otjinene and Epukiro.The two constituencies combined have over 7 000 registered voters.”It was costly to prepare for this by-election …we are a new party with few resources, it [the costs] will be worse if the whole process is re-started all over,” Nudo’s Secretary for Information, Adolf Kangootui, said.Swapo’s District Co-ordinator for Otjinene, Uaapi Ndjavera, also mentioned cost as the main reason why his party wanted to resume voting without delay.”We have already spent a lot on the campaigns; if this delay is prolonged it will cost more to keep in touch with our electorate,” Ndjavera said.The DTA’s Lesley Kauandara called for the by-election to be declared “null and void”, alleging that, apart from the shortage of ballot papers, the election was marred by several irregularities.”We want the whole process to start afresh so that the Commission gets an opportunity to train its officials (polling officers) – their conduct left a lot to be desired,” he charged.One specific incident Kauandara cited was that of a used ballot box that allegedly fell from a moving vehicle when the mobile team was returning from one of the remote polling stations.The box was apparently partially damaged and ballot papers had to be picked up from the dusty road.Kauandara told The Namibian that it could be difficult to get the 3 000 people who had not yet voted back to the polling stations.”We already have a problem of voter apathy, and, when the people are willing to vote, there is a blunder by the Commission,” he said.The DTA held the Otjinene seat until earlier this year when Councillor Billy Katjatenja resigned and defected to Nudo – which had, a few months earlier, pulled out of the DTA alliance.Director of Elections Philemon Kanime conceded that last year’s separation of Epukiro from the Otjinene constituency might have led to an oversight on the part of Commission when dispatching voting material to that area.By late yesterday, Kanime could not speculate on the fate of the suspended by-election.He said a decision would have to be made after the Electoral Commission met today.”We want this issue to be solved as soon as possible,” he said.”All those questions [about the fate of the by-election] we will be answered by tomorrow [Monday], not the political parties.”Meanwhile, the DTA became the main loser in the other four regional council by-elections:Swapo and Nudo took two of the four seats each.The ruling party took the Omatako and Tsumkwe constituencies in the Otjozondjupa Region, pipping Nudo by 528 and 477 votes respectively.Nudo, in turn, convincingly won the Okakarara constituency of Otjozondjupa and the Omaheke Region’s Aminuis constituency.At Okakarara, the party was voted in by 3 766 people, compared to 1 685 for their closest rival, Swapo.At Aminuis, Nudo scored 2 630 votes, while second-placed Swapo had 914.The DTA, which previously controlled all four constituencies, performed dismally in the by-elections, managing only 1 191 votes in its former Okakarara stronghold, 545 at Tsumkwe and 477 and 381 in the Aminuis and Omatako constituencies respectively.