The Electoral Commission of Namibia has released the names of all the 26 constituencies and 5 local authorities where Swapo emerged uncontested.
IN what can be regarded as a major surprise, Swapo Party is the only contestant for the !Nami≠Nûs constituency at Lüderitz and its candidate was declared the winner of the uncontested seat by the Electoral Commission of Namibia yesterday.
The constituency was controversially renamed from Lüderitz on recommendation of the last delimitation report but not after there were also attempts to rename the town. This had led to demonstrations from the residents who threatened to boycott the last Presidential and National Assembly elections in 2014.
At the end Swapo won the National Assembly race in the !Nami≠Nûs constituency with 5 415 of the 6 676 votes cast while the nearest challenger was Rally for Democracy and Progress with 394 votes.
!Nami≠Nûs is one of 26 constituencies out of the 121 which Swapo has taken unopposed.
Also raising eyebrows at yesterday’s ECN announcement was that the local authority of Omuthiyawiipundi also went to Swapo unopposed.
Omuthiya is one of five local authorities out of 52 that will not be contested, ECN chairperson Notemba Tjipueja announced. The town and its area was previously seen as a stronghold of Rally for Democracy Progress. Former RDP president Hidipo Hamutenya and others such as Magnus Nangombe and Festus Naholo hail from there but the party failed to make inroads in the area.
Other uncontested local authorities are Oniipa, Okahao, Outapi and Tsandi. “This means only 95 constituencies and 52 local authority areas will be contested in the upcoming elections,” Tjipueja said.
Other uncontested constituencies are Eengodi, Guinas, Nehale LyaMpingana, Okankolo, Olukonda, Omuntele, Onayena, Oniipa, Onyaanya (all from Oshikoto), Anamulenge, Elim, Okahao, Onesi, Oshikuku, Otamanzi, Outapi, Tsandi (from Omusati), Okaku, Okatana, Okatjali, Ondangwa Rural, Ompundja, Uukwiyu and Uuvudhiya (from Oshana) and Epembe (from Ohangwena).
Theo Mujoro, director of operations at ECN, said they are 85% ready for the 27 November elections.
“We have started with training as well as voter education in most if not all regions. We have not had any challenges so far and I can assure the nation we are on course,” Mujoro said. The nomination of candidates took place from 1 to 16 October.
ECN director Paul Isaak said compared to the last regional and local authority elections, the deadline for this year’s regsitration of candidates was met. The ECN was hoping to create jobs for 11 000 people but because of the uncontested constituencies and towns only 8 000 people will be temporarily employed.
