Africa-Press – Namibia.
The chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), Elsie Nghikembua said that the Commission spent N$26 million on civic education during the 2025/2026 financial year.
Over the years, the ECN has had collaborations with civic society organizations like the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID), who have assisted the Commission over the years with civic education.
Recently, the ECN also signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the University of Namibia (Unam) and the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).
Speaking during a press briefing on Wednesday evening, Nghikembua said that voter and civic education cannot be done by ECN alone, also to assist in that role.
“We also want to use this opportunity to encourage other civil society organizations to come on board so that we strengthen civic education. It is really a responsibility that should be carried out by various sectors,” she said.
Civic education in elections is the provision of information and learning experiences to equip citizens with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to participate in democratic processes.
It involves teaching voters about the electoral system, their rights and responsibilities, and how to make informed decisions, which can include understanding the political process, candidates, and current issues.
The goal is to empower citizens to vote and engage in other forms of civic action, providing knowledge, skills, attitudes and outcomes.
The ECN chairperson also said that the ECN has done its part to thoroughly sensitize, educated the electorate to get them ready for the 2025 Regional Council and Local Authority elections.
“The Commission has done its part in terms of voter education. We started with civic education and closer to the elections we then focused on voter education. Daily in all constituencies, we had voter education officers, who conducted voter education and civic education to all the communities,” Nghikembua added.
With knowledge, citizens can understand the structure of government, electoral processes, and the specific rights and responsibilities of citizens.
With acquired skills, voters can develop critical thinking and media literacy to navigate information, analyse political platforms, and make informed choices.
Voter education is legally one of the duties and functions of the ECN as stipulated in Section 49 of the Electoral Act, 2014 (Act No.5 of 2014). It serves to supervise, direct, control and promote voter education in respect of elections.
This can foster a sense of civic duty and the value of participating in elections for the health of a democratic society. This results in the citizens be encouraged to actively take part in elections, which can include voting, as well as understanding the issues and candidates.
National Voter Education Policy
The National Voter Education ensures that eligible citizens know how to participate in electoral process in Namibia
Another objective is to enhance the capacity of partners to jointly with the ECN, respond to voter education needs in an effective and sustainable manner.
Other objectives include standardising voter education messages and ensuring that the electorate is universally informed.
It also ensures that the ECN regulates voter education partners to ensure adherence to qualitative standards.
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