Order from: publications@eisa.org.za
------------- ❑ -------------
Published with the assistance of
NORAD and OSISA
EISA RESEARCH REPORT No 13
MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY
AND ELECTIONS
IN NAMIBIA
Debie LeBeau
Edith Dima
781920
9
095024
ISBN 1-920095-02-0
i
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY AND
ELECTIONS IN NAMIBIA
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
ii
iii
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
2005
MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY AND
ELECTIONS IN NAMIBIA
BY
DEBIE LE BEAU
EDITH DIMA
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
iv
Published by EISA
2nd Floor, The Atrium
41 Stanley Avenue, Auckland Park
Johannesburg, South Africa 2006
P O Box 740
Auckland Park
2006
South Africa
Tel: 27 11 482 5495
Fax: 27 11 482 6163
Email: eisa@eisa.org.za
www.eisa.org.za
ISBN: 1-920095-02-0
© EISA
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of EISA.
First published 2005
EISA is a non-partisan organisation which seeks to promote democratic
principles, free and fair elections, a strong civil society and good governance
at all levels of Southern African society.
------------ ❑ ------------
Cover photograph: Yoruba Beaded Sashes
Reproduced with the kind permission of Hamill Gallery of African Art,
Boston, MA USA
EISA Research Report, No. 13
v
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
CONTENTS
List of acronyms
viii
Acknowledgements
x
Preface
xi
1. Background to multiparty democracy in Namibia
1
Historical background
1
The electoral system and its impact on gender
2
The 'characters' of the multiparty system
5
2. Election administration
8
Critical analysis of the ECN and its independence
8
Administrative capacity, provision and training of ECN staff
9
Assessment of voter registration
12
Assessment of the ECN's voter education programme
17
3. Political parties
21
The political parties in 2004/05 in Namibia
21
Party manifestos and policy proposals
24
Congress of Democrats (CoD)
25
The COD's policy proposals
25
Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA)
27
The DTA's policy proposals
28
Monitor Action Group (MAG)
30
The MAG's policy proposals
30
Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC)
31
National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO)
31
NUDO's policy proposals
32
Republican Party (RP)
34
The RP's policy proposals
35
South West Africa National Union (SWANU)
36
SWANU'S policy proposals
37
South West Africa Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO Party)
38
The SWAPO Party's policy proposals
39
United Democratic Front (UDF)
41
The UDF's policy proposals
42
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
vi
Conflict management and codes of conduct
43
Funding and party expenditure
44
Members' dues
45
Government and foreign funding
45
Other sources of party funding
45
Voter turnout
47
4. Conflict and elections
52
Conflict over the electoral system
52
Party lists
52
PR and 'largest remainder'
53
Gender
55
Conflict within political parties
56
Transition of SWAPO Party leadership
56
Splits within the DTA
59
Conflict between political parties
60
Conflict surrounding campaigns
61
Publication of lists
61
The media and conflict
62
Conflict surrounding elections
65
Interpersonal politically related conflict
69
5. Gender and youth representation
70
Marginalisation from the democratic process
70
Women and the democratic process
72
Youth and the democratic process
76
Women and youth as participants in political parties
81
Women's targets not reached
84
6. Democratic assistance
87
General development assistance
87
Government assistance to the ECN
87
External funding of political parties
91
Government funding of political parties
91
Foreign funding of political parties
94
The Electoral Support Consortium (ESC)
96
External support for consolidation of democracy
98
vii
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
Bilateral donor support
98
Civil society support
99
The need for support in the consolidation of democracy
104
7. Democratic consolidation in Namibia
106
Issues around the 2004 elections
106
Attitudes about democracy
107
Do all democrats want democracy?
107
Were the 2004 elections free and fair?
109
The future of democracy in Namibia
111
Notes
114
References
129
About the Authors
135
About EISA
136
LIST OF TABLES
Table1: Political party representation in the 2004 elections
21
Table 2: Voter turnout at elections from 1989 to 2004
48
Table3: Allocation of National Assembly seats using PR and
'largest remainder' method
54
Table 4: SWAPO Party Extraordinary Congress vote
58
Table 5 : Members of the executive of political parties, 2001
82
Table 6: Women in regional councils, 2004
85
Table7: ECN administrative expenditures 2003/04
88
Table8: ECN Election operations expenditures 2003/04
89
Table9: Government 2004/2005 expenditure on the 2004 elections90
Table 10: Funding to political parties 2002/03 - 2003/04
92
Table 11: NGOs, CBOs and CSOs in Namibia
100
Table 12: Preference for democracy
109
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
viii
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ACN
Action Christian National
AU
African Union
CBO
Community-based organisation
CoD
Congress of Democrats
CSO
Civil society organisation
DBU
Democracy Building Unit
DMH
Democratic Media Holdings
DTA
Democratic Turnhalle Alliance
DWA
Department of Women Affairs in the Office of the President
ECN
Electoral Commission of Namibia
ESC
Electoral Support Consortium
FCN
Federal Convention of Namibia
FES
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
FPTP
First-past-the-post
GDP
Gross domestic product
GRN
Government of the Republic of Namibia
HCC
Herero Chiefs' Council
IPPR
Institute for Public Policy Research
LAC
Legal Assistance Centre
MAG
Monitor Action Group
MAW RD
Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development
MIB
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
MoHSS
Ministry of Health and Social Services
MoJ
Ministry of Justice
MP
Member of parliament
MRLG&H
Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing
MWACW
Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare
NBC
Namibian Broadcasting Corporation
NDI
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
NDI
National Institute for Democracy
NDMC
Namibia Democratic Movement for Change
NEP AD
New Partnership for Africa's Development
NGO
Non-governmental organisation
NHE
National Housing Enterprise
ix
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
NID
Namibian Institute for Democracy
NNF
Namibia National Front
NPC
National Planning Commission
NPF
National Patriotic Front
NSHR
National Society for Human Rights
NUDO
National Unity Democratic Organisation
ODA
Official development assistance
PR
Proportional representation
RP
Republican Party
SADC
Southern African Development Community
SME
Small- and medium-sized enterprises
SPWC
SWAPO Party Women's Council
SWA NU
South West African National Union
SWAPO
South West Africa People's Organisation
UDF
United Democratic Front of Namibia
UK
United Kingdom
UN
United Nations
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNESCOUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation
UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
UNT AG
UN Transitional Assistance Group
US
United States
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
WAD
Women's Action for Development
WCI
Women's Campaign International
WRP
Workers' Revolutionary Party
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
x
The following people and organisations contributed to the successful
completion of this monograph. Some information on the Ministry of Women
Affairs and Child Welfare (MWACW) comes from qualitative data collection
funded by the SARDC. Some data for sections of this monograph comes
from consultative meetings, key informant interviews and a questionnaire
for a report on the National Gender Machinery prepared for the MWACW.
Data for much of the information comes from reports and consultancies for
the Electoral Support Consortium donors. Many non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), political party members and political analysts spoke
to the authors about topical areas contained within this report. Some sections
in this document borrow liberally from Iipinge and/or LeBeau and have
been utilised with their full permission. Meme Fransina Ndateelela Kahungu
helped collect data from various NGOs, donors and governmental
organisations.
The authors would like to extend a special thanks to Christiaan Keulder of
the Institute for Public Policy Research who provided us with transcripts
from interviews and data on the elections. However, most importantly,
Christie devoted much time and attention to critically reviewing this
monograph, as well as many discussions about theories and concepts relating
to the consolidation of democracy - how extraordinary to find someone with
such depth of knowledge who is so readily willing to share.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
x
xi
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
PREFACE
xi
EISA has undertaken various initiatives, which have been aimed at facilitating
the nurturing and consolidation of democratic governance in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) region. One such initiative is the
first phase of the democratic consolidation research programme. Covering
almost all the SADC countries, this research programme focused on the
following key issues:
•Elections;
•Gender and democracy;
•Electoral systems;
•Electoral administration;
•Political parties;
•Conflict and elections; and
•Democratic assistance.
This first phase of the project has generated an enormous stock of knowledge
on the dynamics of democratic governance in the region over and above the
intricacies of elections per se. It has demonstrated beyond any shadow of a
doubt that indeed there is more to democratic governance than just elections
and electioneering. In a word, with hindsight, it is abundantly clear to us
today that an election, in and of itself, does not necessarily amount to
democratic culture and practice. Put somewhat differently, an election is not
tantamount to a democracy, in the strictest sense of the term. Various other
determinants are critical too including, inter alia , multipartyism, constitutional
engineering and the rule of law, gender inclusivity in the governance process,
electoral system designs and reforms, transparent and accountable
management of national affairs including elections themselves, responsive
and responsible conduct by political parties, constructive management of
various types of conflict and the form and content of external assistance for
democracy.
All these issues are explored in a fairly rigorous and refreshing fashion in
the monographs to come out of this programme, although a deliberate focus
is given to electoral engineering in the form of reviews and reforms required
in the SADC region in order for the selected countries to achieve the difficult
goal of democratic consolidation. This monograph will be followed in due
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
xii
course by various others that are country-specific, exploring a broad array
of challenges for democratic consolidation in the SADC region.
I would like, on behalf of EISA, to acknowledge with gratitude the invaluable
financial support that EISA received from the Norwegian Embassy through
NORAD and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) for
this first phase of the programme and without which this monograph and
subsequent others would not have been possible. I would also like to thank
the authors for their enormous contributions to this project. All said and
done, the views and opinions expressed in this and subsequent monographs
do not necessarily represent an official position of EISA. Any possible factual,
methodological or analytic errors in this and subsequent monographs
therefore rest squarely on the shoulders of the authors in their own capacities
as responsible academics and researchers.
Denis Kadima
Executive Director, EISA
Johannesburg
1
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
1
1
BACKGROUND TO MULTIPARTY DEMOCRACY IN NAMIBIA
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Namibia, which was called South West Africa until independence in 1990,
was colonised by Germany in 1884. German colonial rule lasted until 1915
when Germany was defeated by the Union of South Africa army during the
First World War. In 1920, the League of Nations assigned Namibia to South
Africa as a Class C mandate.1 In 1945 the United Nations (UN) succeeded
the League of Nations and the organisation requested that South Africa place
Namibia under UN trusteeship. South Africa refused and instead introduced
its apartheid policy in Namibia as well. As in South Africa, the basis of
apartheid policy was the appropriation of blacks' land for white settlers
through forced removals and the confinement of blacks to small reserves
commonly called 'homelands'. In addition, blacks were denied political rights
while professional employment opportunities were reserved mainly for white
people.
The national liberation movement emerged in the early 1960s and petitioned
the UN and other international agencies to end South Africa's illegal
occupation of Namibia.2 In 1966, the South West Africa People's Organisation
(SWAPO) began a liberation war and escalated its lobbying efforts to achieve
internationally sanctioned independence for the country. An intensive
diplomatic campaign in 1987 convinced the UN Security Council to initiate
negotiations between SWAPO and South Africa to end South Africa's
occupation of Namibia. On 29 September 1988, the UN Security Council
adopted Resolution 435, which established a UN Transitional Assistance
Group (UNTAG) to supervise a ceasefire and monitor the decolonisation of
Namibia. On 21 March 1990, after the implementation of Resolution 435
which was supervised by UNTAG and other international observers,
Namibia became an independent country after more than 100 years of
colonisation.
At independence, Namibia adopted a constitution as the fundamental law
of the country. The constitution characterised the country as a republic that
is 'a sovereign, secular, democratic and unitary State founded upon the
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
2
principles of democracy, the rule of law and justice for all'. It further states
that: 'All power shall be vested in the people of Namibia who shall exercise
their sovereignty through the democratic institutions of the State.'3 To date
there has been one amendment to the Namibian Constitution: in 1999, article
29(3) was amended to allow President Sam Nujoma to run for a third term
of office.
The constitution also sets out the three main organs of the state, namely, the
executive, the legislature and the judiciary.4 Executive power is vested in the
president who is the head of state and government, as well as commander-
in-chief of the Namibian Defence Force, assisted by the cabinet.5 The president
is elected by 'direct, universal and equal suffrage and can serve for a
maximum of two five-year terms'.6 The legislature consists of the National
Assembly with 72 members elected for a five-year term,7 and the National
Council made up of two representatives drawn from each of the 13
geographical regions of the country who are elected for a six-year term from
among the various regional council members. The National Assembly is
vested with the power to pass laws based on a two-thirds majority vote.8
Judicial power is vested in the courts of Namibia, which consist of a Supreme
Court, a High Court and all lower courts such as magistrates' courts and
district courts. All courts are independent bodies and subject only to the
constitution.9
THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND ITS IMPACT ON GENDER
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) supervises national, regional
and local elections including the registration of voters and political parties,
implementing a code of conduct and assuring equality for all political
parties.10 The Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing
(MRLG&H) supports political parties and trains candidates for local elections.
The Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare (MWACW) is responsible
for promoting women in the election process, while the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting (MIB), primarily through the Namibian
Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), facilitates the election process by
disseminating information on election and constituent rights, providing
information through its regional offices and assisting in voter registration.11
In addition to government initiatives to promote information dissemination
on elections and voter education, the Electoral Support Consortium (ESC)
3
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
provides voter education through multi-media campaigns. As will be
discussed later, the ESC consists of government and several nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs) and is funded by international donors.
The ESC was established to encourage voters to participate in the elections
and to help voters make informed voting decisions.12
Following the UN-supervised elections in 1989 that elected the Constitutional
Assembly and the adoption of the constitution on 9 February 1990, Namibia
has held regular national, regional and local elections, in which several
political parties have participated. Although occasional problems and reports
of intimidation have occurred, the elections have so far been regarded as
free, fair and well organised.13 The Constitutional Assembly determined the
basis of the Namibian state and its institutional structures.
Presidential elections are based on simple majority rule whereby the
candidate with the most votes wins, as long as that candidate has over 50%
support.14 If no candidate receives a 50% majority, further balloting will be
held until one candidate gets a 50% majority.15
A proportional electoral system is used to elect members of local authorities
and the National Assembly.16 With proportional representation (PR), political
parties put forth a closed party list of candidates, and party leaders determine
the ranking of nominations on the list. Voters do not vote for candidates, but
for the party of their choice and each party then receives a percentage of
seats equal to the percentage of votes received.17 The PR system benefits
small parties - many of which are ethnically based - because seats are divided
up according to the proportion of votes, with small parties having the
possibility of getting one seat even if they did not win a full quota of votes
for such a seat.18
This system could be beneficial for women who appear on their party's list
because voters do not perceive that they are voting for a woman versus a
man, since they are voting for a party. Some political parties in Namibia use
a zebra-style list, which means that women on the list assume a higher
percentage of the party's allocated seats.19 Indeed, the local authority elections
of 2004 yielded a 43.4% women's representation. However, women did not
fair as well in the National Assembly elections because a zebra-style list was
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
4
not used and although women were on the lists, their names were too far
down to ensure them seats.
However, as will be discussed later, there are several shortcomings with the
party list and PR system as it is practised in Namibia; for example, elected
officials' allegiance is to their party and not to their constituency because the
constituency did not directly vote for them. Officials are therefore more likely
to carry out the wishes of the party than to be concerned with the wishes of
their constituents.20 Also, women who are placed on party lists are just as
likely as their male counterparts to vote according to party lines, whether or
not such actions benefit women's issues. More importantly, the PR system
leads to fewer women in the National Assembly because the top leaders of
political parties are men; and smaller political parties that are awarded only
one seat or which have won only a few seats are unlikely to select women to
occupy those seats. As will be discussed later, only SWAPO, the Congress of
Democrats (CoD) and the United Democratic Front of Namibia (UDF) have
women representatives in the National Assembly. While the smaller parties
such the Monitor Action Group (MAG) (which was awarded its seat through
the 'largest remainder' rule) and the Republican Party (RP), which both have
only one seat, will have no women representatives. In addition, the National
Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) and the Democratic Turnhalle
Alliance (DTA), which each have only three or four seats, are seen as staunchly
sexist and will not appoint women to those positions. Therefore, the party
list and PR system only benefit women if party members place men and
women on the list in 'zebra style' (man, woman, man, woman, etc).
The plurality (first-past-the-post - FPTP) electoral system is used to elect
members of the regional councils and indirectly elect National Council
representatives.21 In this system, political parties put forth individual
candidates to be elected in designated constituencies. It is less likely that
women will be elected under this system because:
•parties are less likely to put forward women for election; and
•the constituency is less likely to specifically vote for a woman.22
As was expected, women did not fair well in the regional elections given
that only 27.3% of 2004 regional councillors elected are women. In this system,
5
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
because constituency members vote for a specific candidate, candidates'
allegiance is a little more likely to be with the voters; however, allegiances to
the party are still strong given that candidates' names are selected by party
officials.23 Although National Council members are more likely than National
Assembly members to represent their regions' interests, given the current
government structures, the National Council has little power to influence
law reform efforts or to be considered a valid check against the National
Assembly because the National Council has no formal law-making function
and its power to review laws is limited and can be overruled by the National
Assembly.24
THE 'CHARACTERS' OF THE MULTIPARTY SYSTEM
In 1989 there were over 40 active political parties in Namibia. While many of
the parties were tribal- or ethnic-based - having been sponsored by South
Africa in an attempt to create an internal settlement to sideline SWAPO -
others were set up specifically to participate in the 1989 elections.25 However,
registration requirements in 1989 reduced the number to six alliances and
four parties; and out of these only seven made it to the Constitutional
Assembly that subsequently served as the first National Assembly.26 These
were the Action Christian National (ACN), the DTA, the Federal Convention
of Namibia (FCN), the Namibia National Front (NNF), the National Patriotic
Front (NPF), SWAPO, and the UDF. Currently in 2004/05, 11 parties are
registered with the ECN,27 namely: the CoD, DTA, FCN, MAG, the Namibia
Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC), NUDO, RP, the South West
Africa National Union (SWANU), SWAPO, UDF and the Workers'
Revolutionary Party (WRP). However, since the FCN and WRP appear to be
'dormant', only nine parties participated in the 2004 elections.28
In addition to political parties, residents' associations emerged in the 1992
local authority elections, with separate groups seeking seats in Mariental,
Swakopmund, Windhoek and Walvis Bay.29 These organisations rejected
party politics but managed to win only 1.2% of the vote with one candidate
elected from the Swakopmund Residents' Association. The associations'
performance improved in 1998 and they took control of eight towns with
8.2% and 16 seats, but their performance dropped to 4.5% in the 2004 local
authority elections, with seven independent candidates elected in five
towns.30
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
6
According to the Electoral Act of 1992, the ECN is to supervise and control
the registration of political parties, and have the parties sign a Code of
Conduct.31 The allocation of seats to parties is guided by the electoral system
adopted by Namibia. The multiparty system in Namibian politics functions
under and is supported by the constitution; but as with any other country,
difficulties emerge between the ruling party and opposition parties in
exercising their legislative roles. Although many parties are free to participate,
the ruling SWAPO Party has dominated the country's politics for the past 15
years, since independence. SWAPO attained a two-thirds majority as from
1994 and holds the majority of government and parliamentary positions; it
is therefore able to pass its programmes through the National Assembly with
ease. Furthermore, the selection of cabinet ministers from SWAPO sometimes
makes it difficult to separate the ruling party from government.32
The opposition parties complain that their role in the National Assembly is
neglected and their input rejected by SWAPO members. For example, the
CoD has complained that questions and motions put forward by its members
of parliament (MPs) have often met with hostile reception from SWAPO
Party members. Unlike other strong opposition parties in some countries
that have good chances of implementing their policies, Namibian opposition
parties do not appear to be near this point.33 Although opposition parties
tend to criticise the SWAPO government on some issues, their policies and
priorities tend to be largely similar to those of SWAPO. Furthermore,
opposition parties suggest new ideas but with no analysis of how to raise
the additional funds required. Some of the suggestions from opposition
parties include declaring HIV/AIDS a national emergency, the creation of a
drought relief fund or the provision of homes for all Namibians.34 In some
cases, as Hopwood35 points out, party manifestos get relegated to the back
burner, with 'personality' politics and liberation credentials become the
deciding factor.
It can, however, be said that fairness between political parties is exercised
through the allocation of seats in the National Assembly as well as through
the funding of political parties in Namibia. As previously mentioned, the
PR system using closed party lists benefits the smaller parties because through
the formula used, small parties with limited support (such as a few thousand
votes) can still obtain representation in the National Assembly.36 The
7
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
advantage of the party list system is that every vote has the same value and
the number of seats a party wins reflects its share of the vote. Parties are free
to order their lists as they choose. This boosts multiparty participation,
providing a chance for a variety of views in the National Assembly.
The second house of parliament, the National Council, consists of 26 members
from the regional councils - two from each of the 13 regions.37 If one party
controls the regional councils, representatives to the National Council would
normally be from that party. If, however, no overall party controls the regional
councils, then councillors from different parties can be sent to the National
Council upon agreement; for example, the Omaheke Region's National
Council was represented by the DTA and SWAPO in 1999 and 2004.38
Members of the National Council coming from the regions are the only MPs
elected to represent constituencies and are expected to back or raise regional
concerns during legislative debates.39 Though it seldom happens, opposition
political parties act as 'bell-ringers' on key issues, and it is in this vain that in
2003 a new member of the CoD urged opposition parties to unite against
SWAPO.40
An important question, however - and one that is dealt with later in the
section on political parties - is why opposition parties do not make more of
an effort to differentiate their policy proposals from that of the ruling party
or to provide a deeper analysis of alternatives that would make a difference
to the lives of Namibians.
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
8
8
2
ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ECN AND ITS INDEPENDENCE
Namibia, like most Southern African Development Community (SADC)
countries, has an independent election management body: the Electoral
Commission of Namibia (ECN). The ECN was established in 1992 as the
highest independent electoral body in the country and is answerable only to
parliament. The commission was administered as part of the Prime Minister's
Office from 1992 to 2000, but concerns over its independence under that Office
led to the ECN being established as an independent body with its own budget
in 2000.41 The Directorate of Elections is the administrative arm of the
commission. The ECN is guided by the Electoral Act 24 of 1992 and is
responsible for the registration of voters and the registration of political parties,
as well as to supervise, direct and control elections.42 The ECN also oversees
civic and voter education even though this task is not mandated through any
electoral act; this responsibility falls within the SADC principles for electoral
bodies to coordinate voter education for consistency and quality control.43
To achieve its objectives, the electoral body should operate independently,
have clear mandates and adequate resources. SADC principles indicate that
controversies may arise with respect to appointment procedures and tenure
of members, which undermine the legitimacy and credibility of the electoral
process.44 Prior to 2000, the president appointed electoral commissioners, but
after 2000 recruitment became competitive through advertisements in two
local newspapers (excluding the Namibian , which is banned from government
advertising). All interested persons apply and participate in the selection
process. Short-listed candidates are then interviewed by a selection committee
composed of a staff member from the Supreme or High Court, a legal
practitioner nominated by the Law Society and a staff member from the
Ombudsman's Office.45 After the interviews, the selection committee
recommends eight applicants to the president, who then chooses five as
members of the Electoral Commission. The current director, Phillemon
Kanime, is the second director to be confirmed by the president through this
process. This process was used to select the five commission members in
2000 and is still in force. However, when one commission member died in
2001, the president appointed a replacement; thus it appears that the selection
9
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
process is not followed in the case of replacement members.46 Important to
note is that the selection of only one female on the five-member commission
does not reflect a gender balance and fails to meet the SADC recommendation
of 30% women in positions of power sharing.
Even though the selection and appointment processes for the ECN are open
and thus supposed to contribute to the commission's independence, there is
a tendency for candidates to be from the ruling SWAPO Party. These members
do not consistently display the impartiality expected of the ECN - as observed
on the television talk show following complaints over the delay in
announcing the 2004 National Assembly and presidential election results.
An ECN member on the panel was challenged by a UDF party member to
explain whether or not the ECN and SWAPO Party were in fact one and the
same, given the fact that the former had answered questions regarding the
delay by defending SWAPO. In addition, some ECN members had appeared
in SWAPO Party regalia at a number of polling stations, hence putting the
ECN's independence from political affiliation into question.47 In an earlier
television talk show on 18 November, the quality of the training of election
officials who counted the ballots came into question and the Director of
Elections responded that unemployed people had been recruited and were
under the supervision of civil servants, and therefore he requested patience
from the nation. It can be argued, therefore, that training of election officials
to ensure delivery of correct and timely results was not only inadequate, but
that the independence of the ECN in its activities is likely to be compromised
by the dominance of the ruling SWAPO Party. It has also been argued that
unemployed (and unskilled) people were selected as a ploy to make it appear
that the government (and hence SWAPO Party) was adequately addressing
the unemployment problem in Namibia. Data shows that with any
government - which of necessity is run by politicians - it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish political party allegiances from government
commitment. Indeed, political parties are elected on the basis that the
electorate feel that their party (or their candidate) will uphold party policies
once in office and thus the electorate come to expect that the government
will act in a manner that is consistent with party mandates.
ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY, PROVISION AND TRAINING OF ECN STAFF
The structure of the ECN is comprised of the Electoral Commission Secretariat
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
10
as the highest office, with two main divisions: the Directorate of Operations;
and Division of Finance and Administration, both of which have various
subdivisions and sections that fall under them.48 The overall administration
of activities of the ECN Secretariat on a day-to-day basis falls under the
director of elections supported by other personnel. All three established posts
on the secretariat were filled as of 2004, but the activities and responsibilities
of the office have stimulated demand for increased staffing. In particular,
the secretariat requires the services of a public relations officer who will be
charged with, among others, the responsibility of keeping a positive image
of the ECN by providing professional responses to public queries on activities;
disseminating election results; and linking the media to the ECN through
press briefings with the director.
49
The secretariat cooperates and liaises with
other organisations and civil society for support of the election process.
To boost its capacity-building programme, the ECN has sponsored some
staff in attending specific upgrading courses locally and abroad, as well as
the attachment of operations staff members to other election management
staff for educational purposes during the elections.50 In addition, the ECN
requested that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) send
a special mission from New York to undertake a 'needs assessment' to provide
assistance and international guidance for its work in the coming years.
However, as the ECN so rightly recognises, benefits from short upgrading
courses depend on staff members' educational background, and thus the
educational levels of staff need to be uplifted.51
The Directorate of Electoral Operations - one of the two main divisions of
the ECN - spearheads the organising, planning, managing and running of
electoral affairs in the country. The ECN is tasked with informing all citizens
18 years and older of their democratic rights, as well as registering them to
vote.52 However, the ECN has acknowledged its own need for capacity
building to meet this obligation. The Directorate of Electoral Operations is
severely understaffed with only three permanent staff, two of whom manage
and control operational activities while only one staff member is available
for civic and voter education.53 Four other established posts are not filled,
and the head of the Democracy Building Unit (DBU) is on temporary
appointment.54 Given its mandate, the directorate does not have the capacity
to cope with the increased volume of work involved with planning and
11
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
preparing for voter registration, post-registration work, the election period
and the immediate two- to three-week post-election period.55 This staff
shortage has compelled the ECN to appoint some professional staff on
secondment from other government ministries and temporary (mostly
unemployed) staff to assist the head office during the time period before, in
the run-up to and immediately following elections.56 Given that the ECN
operates with a skeleton staff between elections, this means that the ECN
must find and appoint new temporary staff for each election. Such temporary
appointments present other challenges in terms of training needs, impartiality
in actions, obligations and commitment to the ECN. In addition, unemployed
people recruited by the ECN will require more training and may present
potential challenges in the electoral activity processes if required skills are
not grasped within the limited time available for training and job
performance. Training programmes also cover those in the following
positions: election officials such as regional coordinators, area managers,
constituency supervisors, and team leaders; registration officers for the 2003
general voters' roll; and field staff such as presiding officials, returning officers
and other logistical support staff for the elections. The general voters' roll
registration of July/August 2003, a supplementary registration exercise in
April and September 2004, civic and voter education activities, and finally
the organisation of several elections during 2004 are demanding
responsibilities that require support from adequate and competent finance
management staff. The programme implementation activities were
overwhelming for available administrative and financial staff capacity.57
The Division of Finance and Administration - the second of the two main
divisions of the ECN - has 13 established posts, four of which remain vacant,
including that of a programmer. The division is headed by a deputy director
and is tasked with providing general support services in staff administration
and financial matters. These services include budgets for planned activities,
staff salaries and other financial obligations such as payments to voter
registration officials and for civic and voter education programmes.58 This
division provides the ECN with logistic support such as the acquisition of
office supplies, utilities, transportation and security services as well as
support services for the procurement of supplies and materials for voter
registration. This division also facilitates capacity building among ECN staff
by providing them with information and support for relevant training
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
12
programmes.59 In addition to its normally assigned tasks, the Division of
Finance and Administration manages donor funding for civic and voter
education (to be discussed in detail later) and has to meet different donor-
reporting requirements. An assessment of the financial accounting and
bookkeeping for the ESC shows several management challenges such as: the
need to transfer funds to a commercial bank account so as to earn interest on
the large sums of money provided by donors; not having arranged for
expenditures for the ESC through the ECN to be VAT (value added tax) free,
which resulted in the ECN having to pay VAT and claim it back from the
Treasury; the administration of funds by different donors through one account
rather than having separate accounts for separate donors; and inconsistencies
between proposed and actual expenditure.60 The 2004 evaluation concludes
that the staffing levels of the overall division were inadequate for the volume
of work and level of competency required in the division. Acceptable reporting
to donors could not be fulfilled, hence additional staff was needed in this
division to help meet ECN and donor needs.61
ASSESSMENT OF VOTER REGISTRATION
The law requires the ECN to re-register all eligible voters in a general voters'
roll or voters' registration roll every 10 years, as well as to declare occasional
supplementary registration periods. In addition to the general voters' roll,
the ECN must also keep a voters' registration roll for local authority elections
while the general voters' roll is for regional, national and presidential elections.
Previously, the general voters' roll only contained the voter's name, address
and registration number; however, as of the 2003 registration, the general
voters' roll now also contains the voter's picture, thumbprint, sex and age.
This general voters' roll allows citizens to vote for local authority council,
presidential, National Assembly and regional council elections - all of which
took place in 2004.62 Eligible voters in Namibia are citizens who attain the age
of 18 years and older; and for local authority elections, an individual who has
lived in the local authority area for at least one year before voting. Various
methods have been used to verify biographical data for registration, such as
the use of a birth certificate or sworn statement by a parent or guardian as
proof of age.63
The general voters' roll is a key part of the democratic process because it is
the official list of citizens eligible to vote in elections, and inclusion in the
13
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
general voters' roll is a prerequisite for voting - meaning that exclusion from
the list is exclusion from the democratic process.64 Keulder et al65 report that
there are two ways that voters are excluded from the general voters' roll:
legally and/or administratively.
There are certain legal requirements to be able to vote. In Namibia these
requirements include being 18 years of age, a citizen of Namibia, a residency
requirement for local (and to a limited degree regional) elections, and mental
competence.66 Administrative errors can also interfere with the inclusion of
people on the list who have a legal right to be registered. These administrative
issues can include administrative registration errors, inadequate public
notification of registration deadlines, citizens living abroad, voters not
bothering to register, and/or voters failing to provide correct documentation.67
Given the importance of the general voters' roll in providing people with
their democratic right to vote, it is considered the government's responsibility
to maintain accurate lists.
Voter registration can be achieved through three methods: compiling a
periodic list; maintaining a continuous list; or using a civil registry.68 Of these
three methods, the periodic re-registering of voters is the most expensive,
but most accurate, in a country like Namibia where the population experiences
shifts such as high levels of migration and high death rates. Although a
continuous list would be cheaper to maintain, it would require a high degree
of cooperation between government departments (to continuously obtain
citizens' details) and administrative vigilance over the registration of newly
eligible voters as well as the deregistration of ineligible voters.69 Namibia has
used a combination method of periodic registering of voters, as well as
maintaining a fixed registration place where voters come to register or reregister.
A civil registry is a list of all citizens whether or not they are eligible
to vote: the general voters' roll is then generated from this list. Although the
cheapest method of obtaining a general voters' roll, it could be considered a
violation of privacy because the government then maintains a list with
biographical data on all of its citizens - which could fall into the wrong hands.
The Namibian general voters' roll process was undertaken in 1992 and again
in 2003, after a delay of a year caused by the Delimitation Commission's
delay in completing the demarcation of constituency boundaries.70 Such
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
14
delays and changes of programme dates had an impact on the ECN's
planning and preparedness for its own programmes - and ultimately on the
elections. In addition, 'the re-registration of voters on a national basis requires
a substantial commitment of resources in terms of time, financing, material
input, and human endeavour'.71 Continuous registration of voters had been
adopted in Namibia but was abandoned due to a number of challenges,
including officials who were registering the same person repeatedly and
registering people in constituencies other than where they lived, as well as
errors such as listing people in incorrect constituencies or not removing
voters' names after they had died (thought to be of particular importance
given the high death rate due to AIDS).
These are some of the reasons why the 1999 voters' register was regarded as
unreliable; given that it reflected that over 90% of the voting age population
had registered to vote (879,222 registered voters). Keulder et al72 found that
recurring problems with the 1999 voter registration list (obtained through
the continuous registration process) not only contained several errors as
mentioned above, but introduced a variety of others as well. The most glaring
error found with the list was the occurrence of duplicate or multiple entries
of the same individual, primarily because people registered and then reregistered
either in a different constituency or with newly acquired
identification documents, while not bothering to have their names removed
from the list.73 Other errors found through this research included: inadequate
biographical data which could have enabled officials to identify duplicate
entries; incomplete entries, such as no full names or residential addresses;
inaccurate data, where the name of the person or address was badly
misspelled as well as where the identification number or age was entered
incorrectly; and 'ghost voters', that is, people who were registered to vote
but who were either deceased or had in some other way become ineligible
to vote.74 In addition, 32% of voters who registered for the 1999 National
Assembly elections did so via sworn statements, raising concern about the
integrity of the voting process and opening up greater possibility for fraud.75
Keulder et al76 state that this is more of an indication of voters' inability to
obtain identification documents than an indictment against the ECN.
An examination of the 1999 general voters' roll produced incomplete results
due to the limited number of data fields collected, and thus the lack of
15
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
available fields for integrity checks. Therefore, only 'method of registration'
and age could be analysed - with no way of conducting a gender analysis.77
The analysis shows that people in rural areas (as opposed to urban areas)
are more likely to register via sworn statements, and thus less likely to have
identification documents or birth certificates.78 The analysis of age shows
that 40% of registered voters are between 18 and 34 years old, and that there
is a significant variation in age by region when it comes to the registration of
voters. This data indicates that the youth may not be as disenfranchised as
previously purported.79 Examining age by registration method shows that
about 80% of those between 18 and 34 years old register via sworn
statements.80
The voter registration process had begun in 2001 but was postponed due to
the various challenges affecting the continuous registration effort.81 To
address these challenges, the ECN instituted a number of reforms to the
registration process for the 2003 national voter re-registrations. A new
registration form was designed with additional data-entry fields to obtain
more information about registered voters. For example, for the first time,
the addition of the sex of the voter on the new registration form now allows
for the analysis of gender patterns with regard to registrations.82 With support
from the ESC, new technology was used to enable the ECN to take digital
photographs and scan information from forms. In addition, double-sided
cards were used to register voters for local (on one side of the card) as well
as regional and national elections (on the other side) so that voters only have
one card for all elections (instead of the two cards previously required). The
cards were also laminated for greater protection against wear.83 These
measures were employed to speed up the registration process as well as to
improve the integrity of the general voters' roll.
An opportunity for a first attempt to analyse some data contained in the
2003 general voters' roll was presented through a by-election in the Windhoek
West Constituency. The root causes of inaccuracies found are similar to those
discovered in the 1999 general voters' roll - stemming mainly from the data-
recording process at registration points, and not necessarily from the
data-entry process. Hence a clean-up of the general voters' roll would enhance
its integrity.84 Furthermore, there is need to continue strengthening
connections between the general voters' roll and gender issues, disability
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
16
sensitivity as well as the impact of increased numbers of AIDS deaths.
Increased numbers of deaths call for the timely removal of names from the
general voters' roll to safeguard against fraud during an election. Hence,
the ECN needs to have a mechanism in place for the regular updating of the
general voters' roll using death notices; which means that the ECN will need
to cooperate with other national and local government agencies to gather
and share this information. The capacity of the ECN and these other entities
to gather and share such information therefore needs to be assessed.
After the 2003 general voters' roll registrations, supplementary registration
exercises targeting those who turned 18 years old in the interim were held in
March and September 2004, aimed at covering the local authority elections
and by-elections in May 2004, as well as the National Assembly and
presidential elections in November 2004.85 The registration of voters was
also undertaken at all of Namibia's foreign missions, but some people still
seem to have fallen through the registration net.
According to the ECN,86 2,800 temporary registration officers were hired to
work on compiling the general voters' roll. Supplementary registration for
the local authority elections and by-elections involved 51 supervisors (33 men
and 18 women): of these, 42 were government officials and nine were
unemployed citizens. Another nine government officials were appointed as
constituency supervisors (five women and four men). In addition, 1,295
registration officials were recruited and trained: of these, 127 were
government officials and 1,168 were unemployed citizens, of which 731 were
women and 564 men. A total of 43 verification officers were appointed at the
ECN headquarters to assist with registration (and later election) materials.
The registration officials and constituency supervisors received two days'
training to prepare them for the work. Whereas this training appears to have
been adequate for government officials, it seems to have been inadequate
for unemployed people who lack experience in official activities, given that
they had difficulty carrying out their assigned tasks.
To identify a voter, a variety of documents were used such as a national
identity card, passport, birth certificate or driver's license. In the absence of
any of these documents, a sworn statement from two people - who are eligible
voters - was used to verify a voter's identity. All registered voters were issued
17
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
with registration cards; and lost or damaged registration cards were replaced
with duplicates upon application and provision of satisfactory identification
to the registration official. As previously mentioned, Keulder et al's87 analysis
of the 1999 general voters' roll shows that 33.1% of all Namibian voters
registered using sworn statements, with rural people and youths being the
most likely to use this method of identification. The same analysis for the
Windhoek West 2003 registration roll shows that only 19% of voters registered
using sworn statements, with similar trends observed for younger voters.
Keulder and Wiese88 found that 89% of those who used sworn statements
are between 18 and 35 years old; and of these voters, 82% came of voting age
after independence.89 The use of sworn statements has raised concern,
primarily because it means that many citizens do not have valid identification
documents.90 The RP raised similar concerns during the 2004 National
Assembly and presidential elections.91
On the whole, the ECN's voter registration exercise was completed in a
satisfactory manner;92 acquisition of modern equipment contributed to this
success. The ECN estimated that between 85 and 90% of eligible people were
registered to vote and political party representatives expressed general
satisfaction with the process.93 Although inconsistencies are still to be found
in the general voters' roll, the proportion of these errors compared to the
volume of the list (over 900,000 people) is probably insignificant. In addition,
the enormity of the task - to register all eligible voters nationwide with a
total population density of 2.1 persons per km (2001 Census) - says more
about the ECN's successes in the registration exercise, than speaking to its
failures. However, the challenge for the ECN will be to continuously maintain
valid data on these lists for future elections and to avoid the vast outlay of
time and money that accompanies such exercises.
ASSESSMENT OF THE ECN'S VOTER EDUCATION PROGRAMME94
As has been mentioned previously, the ECN is part of a larger ESC which
includes the ECN, donors and NGOs. The civic and voter education
programme focuses on creating voter awareness and ensuring the active
participation of community members in the democratic process. Although
the election laws do not specifically task the ECN with civic and voter
education, given Namibia's history of disenfranchisement of the majority of
the population, the ECN has determined that civic and voter education is
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
18
essential for creating public awareness about the political process as well as
for educating voters about how to participate in this process - especially in
the light of the rising tide of voter apathy.95
The ECN began its voter education programme in 1992 and established a
Democracy Building Unit (DBU) in 2001, which is responsible for civic and
voter education as well as for the dissemination of electoral information.96
In an effort to promote civic and voter education, the DBU has trained one
regional voter educational officer for each of the country's 13 administrative
regions.97 The work of these officers is to organise regional training workshops
and meetings and to assist in the dissemination of voter education material
produced by the DBU. The DBU also promotes voter education materials
through national radio and television programmes.98
Each voter educational officer held regional level public meetings on voter
education throughout the country from August 2003 to June 2004. Prior to
this, in 2003, workshops were held for voter educational officers to teach
them operational strategies and to encourage them to reach as many voters
as possible. A refresher workshop was held for the 13 officers in March 2004
with the aim of preparing them for the forthcoming elections and to motivate
them. A follow-up workshop was held for the officers in June 2004 to identify
information gaps and to solicit suggestions for changes to voter educational
material production, design and dissemination.99 A third workshop was held
in June 2004 to revise the voter reference manual, and included participants
from various government ministries involved in the election process as well
as NGO members of the ESC. This workshop aimed at determining gaps
and identifying additional information to be included in the voter reference
manual.100 Many additional definitions of terms were added (such as defining
'elections', 'democracy', 'good governance', etc.), as well as information on
the benefits of voting, the function of political officers, how political parties
get seats, and how names come to be excluded from the general voters' roll.101
The voter education campaign was divided into two phases. Phase one was
to educate community members about the supplementary registration drive
and local authority elections. The information messages included: defining
supplementary registration; who should register during supplementary
registration; where to register; the date and location of registration points;
19
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
and requirements and procedures for registration. Phase two was an
additional series of voter education campaigns for prospective voters in the
local authority elections and included: defining local authorities; explaining
why local authority elections are held; who should vote; voting procedures;
the role of voters in elections; the responsibilities of local authority councils;
and what to do and not do at polling stations.102
The development and design stage of voter education material for the
supplementary registration exercise and elections was done in early 2004
and the material was distributed shortly thereafter. Members of the ESC
undertook voter education, with the content of the messages divided into
two sections and provided through different media. These information media
included: the previously mentioned public meetings in all 13 regions; radio
jingles; television talk shows, programmes and adverts; posters/brochures/
leaflets; and newspaper inserts designed by the ESC. Local authority material
was designed by Prime Time Media, while Namprint, Printec and John
Meinert did printed media, and television and radio material was aired on
NBC.103
The ECN voter educational officers noted some challenges within the regions.
These included the following:
•In some regions the officers had overlapping duties which
impeded the execution of their civic and voter education duties.
•Many officers did not have adequate transportation and
accommodation.
•Officers sometimes felt that political parties were better informed
than themselves about ECN-related issues, leading to rivalry
between some party activists and officers. The officers felt that
this situation impeded voter education and set the stage for the
possibility of 'unhealthy rivalry'.104
In addition to challenges to the ECN's voter education programmes identified
by officers, ESC assessments identified further challenges for the ECN.105
These include that: ECN material did not mainstream issues for marginalised
voters, such as gender and disability issues; tactile ballots could be introduced
for visually impaired voters; and ECN material disproportionately focused
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
20
on voter registration and voter education but could also address civic
education.
On a positive note, Pitkanen106 felt that the ECN's voter registration
component had been satisfactorily completed and that voter educational
officers were doing their jobs well and took their assigned tasks seriously.
The ECN confirmed that the vast majority of these officers had performed to
expectation. The Pitkanen107 report gives the example of the Omusati officer
who held 19 meetings under trees and in schools in one week, as well as
estimating that up to 37,000 community members had been reached
throughout the country. The report notes further that as of its writing many
ECN targets (such as the production of material in various languages,
newspaper inserts, videos, radio programmes and billboards) had been
reached in timely fashion.108
21
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
Table 1: Political party representation in the 2004 elections
Party
National Assembly
Regional Council
Local Authority
CoD
5
0
32
DTA
4
2
31
MAG
1
*
*
NDMC
0
0
2
NUDO
3
3
9
RP
1
0
7
SWA NU
0
1
*
SWAPO
55
96
168
UDF
3
5
25
Local associations
*
*
7
Total
72
107
281
3
POLITICAL PARTIES
THE POLITICAL PARTIES IN 2004/05 IN NAMIBIA
As already mentioned, there are currently 11 political parties registered with
the ECN.109 The large number of parties in a population of only 977,742
registered voters is high. One possible explanation for so many political
parties is the desire of individuals for power. In addition, the ethnic base of
most parties promotes a tendency among parties to view the country's
leadership as being under the control of a particular ethnic group - this factor
can negate democratic growth. Table 1 shows the number of seats won by
political parties in the 2004 elections.
21
Most political parties are organised in relatively the same manner. All political
parties have a constitution that defines their guiding principles, identifies
Places denoted with an * indicate that these parties did not participate in that particular election.
Sources: ECN, Annual Report 2003-2004, ECN, Windhoek, 2004, p 14; The Namibian, 23 November 2004;
New Era, 3 December 2004; New Era, 14 December 2004.
EISA RESEARCH REPORT NO 13
22
the party's aims a