PRESS RELEASE

NSHR is deeply concerned about credible allegations of irregularities in the recruitment and appointment of candidate registration officers and or their assistants for the supplementary registration of the voters at the newly proclaimed town of Omuthiya. The voters will take part in the upcoming elections of the local authority for the town. Omuthiya is situated in the Oshikoto Region, some 80 kilometers southeast of the town of Ondangwa.

The supplementary voter registration process is to take place on February 4 – 8 2008.

According to NSHR sources, the actual recruitment of the some 62 candidate registration officers and or their assistants was carried out by the highly politicized and partisan Oshikoto Regional Council, led by Governor Penda ya Ndakolo. The candidate registration officers and or their assistants were carefully screened at the said Council’s offices at Omuthiya and the lists of their names as well as other particulars were then sent to the Head Office of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for formal appointment as provided for in terms of Section 14 of the Electoral Act, 1992 (Act 24 of 1992), as amended.

“Hence, the result of our investigation of the irregularity allegations reveals that the recruitment was, indeed, carried out by the Oshikoto Governor’s staff and only those applicants who are SWAPO members or persons claiming to be SWAPO Party members were recruited and eventually appointed as registration officers. We have also established that at least 62 people were so recruited and appointed. All Non-SWAPO Party members were rejected and their applications allegedly torn up at the Governor’s recruitment office at Omuthiya on the instructions of Governor ya Ndakolo”, said NSHR executive director Phil ya Nangoloh, who coordinated the investigation.

At least 8 applicants--among them experienced two experienced former ECN employees, one of them a presiding officer and the other a polling officer--told NSHR that their applications for recruitment were destroyed on mere suspicion that they are RDP supporters or sympathizers. The Testimonials of Misses Ndateelela Neelenge (presiding officer) and Lucia Kalenga (polling officer) are attached hereto [per fax only] as proof that, as former ECN employees, they, indeed, have the experience.

Following and after its investigation, NSHR phoned and formally informed the Director of Elections, Mr. Philemon Kanime, and Returning Officer, Ms. Kristofina Udjombala, expressing grave concern about the seriousness of the irregularity allegations. Mr. Kanime denied that ECN was involved in the recruitment of the registration officers adding that all the names of the candidate registration officers were received from the offices of the Oshikoto Regional Council. ECN was only involved in the formal appointment of the said candidates, he said.

When approached for comment, Ms. Udjombala also denied her involvement in the recruitment of the said candidate registration officers. She explained that, according to an advertisement at the Offices of the Governor of Oshikoto Region, in order to qualify to be recruited and appointed as a registration officer, the candidate must satisfy the following criteria: (1) must be a resident of Omuthiya Constituency; (2) must possess Grade 12 qualifications; and (3) must have Grade 10 qualifications plus experience as a former ECN employee.

“However, as far as Criteria 1 above is concerned, the postal addresses of suggest that at least 34 trainee registration officers are not normally resident in the Omuthiya Constituency. They came from towns such as Oshakati (two people) and Ondangwa (32 people) in the Oshana Region. We wish to point out that an electoral process must not only be fair, but it must also be seen to be fair. Therefore, there is absolutely no fairness in the above recruitment of registration officers and or their assistants at Omuthiya and, hence, at the end of the day the whole electoral process would not be seen to have been fair. CoD, DTA and RDP supporters might not expect or accept to be registered as voters by persons who are personally known to them as partisan SWAPO Party activists and the reverse is also true. So, ‘Do unto others that which you wish them do unto you’”, ya Nangoloh said.

In light of above allegations, NSHR is calling upon ECN to correct this situation as a matter of urgency.