Rundu swearing-in of councillors on hold

The swearing-in of Rundu local authority councillors will not happen until the self-review of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) in the Electoral Court is concluded.

This was confirmed by Rundu spokesperson Benjamin Makayi yesterday.

“The Rundu Town Council swearing-in is on hold for now until the court pronounces itself. But other local authorities’ swearing-in will go ahead,” he said.

By law, elected office bearers should take the oath of office within seven days of being confirmed by the ECN.

Ministry of Urban and Rural Development executive director Wilhelmine Shivute yesterday confirmed that the swearing-in of regional council and local authority councillors will take place on Friday, with local or district magistrates officiating.

Incoming Rundu Rural constituency councillor Paulus Mbangu yesterday told The Namibian that he expects the process to correct what happened at Rundu.

“What is now happening is just a procedural process, because once the returning officer made that announcement, it meant that the commission cannot overturn it but must rather seek the court,” he said.

ECN chief electoral and referenda officer Peter Shaama has confirmed that the error was made by the returning officer for the Rundu Town Council when he announced the allocation of seats on 29 November.

“In adherence to its duty to ensure the integrity of the electoral process, the commission is addressing this error proactively and transparently by lodging an urgent self-review application in the Electoral Court of Namibia,” Shaama says.

The error affected the allocation of one seat. A seat that should have gone to the Rundu Urban Community Association (Ruca) was instead allocated to the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC).

A total of 12 560 votes were cast for the Rundu local authority. Dividing this by the seven seats gives a quota of 1 794 votes per seat.

Swapo received 7 148 votes, giving it four seats. The Rundu Concerned Citizens’ Association obtained 1 337 votes, giving it one seat.
The Affirmative Repositioning movement received 799 votes, giving it one seat. Ruca followed with 674 votes, while IPC received 642.

The commission met the affected parties on Tuesday to explain what happened and outline the steps it is taking to correct the error in line with Section 168 of the Electoral Act.

The self-review seeks to nullify the returning officer’s declaration on Saturday that allocated the seat to IPC and to replace it with a corrected declaration allocating the seat to Ruca.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.