Africa-Press – Namibia. Minister of urban and rural development James Sankwasa has confirmed that local authority councillors for Rundu and Gobabis will be sworn in on Thursday, following delays that affected several towns last week.
While councillors across the country took their oaths on Friday, those for Rundu, Gobabis, Oranjemund, Okahandja and Uis were not sworn in.
Sankwasa explains that the delay in Rundu was due to an error by the Electoral Commission of Namibia, which initially allocated a seat to the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) instead of the Rundu Urban Community’s Association.
The Electoral Court on Monday reviewed and set aside the erroneous allocation and ordered that the seat be allocated to the Rundu Urban Community’s Association instead.
“The swearing in could not take place on Friday because of the pending issue,” Sankwasa says.
Swapo won four seats at Rundu, while Affirmative Repositioning, the Rundu Concerned Citizens Association and Rundu Urban Community’s Association each received one seat.
At Gobabis, Sankwasa says an association sought to change the list of gazetted candidates, leading to a disagreement.
He added that the magistrate tasked with the swearing in made an error by cancelling all candidates, instead of proceeding with those who were not in dispute.
Sankwasa has clarified that if the association involved resolves its internal matters in time, the councillors will be sworn in today.
“If they are not ready, they will not be sworn in, but the swearing-in of other candidates will proceed. Any ongoing disputes will continue while the council begins functioning,” Sankwasa says.
However, the minister says he has not yet been informed why councillors for Okahandja, Oranjemund and Uis have still not been sworn in.
Former Okahandja deputy mayor Akser Aupindi told Desert FM on Monday the councillors could not be sworn in last week because Sankwasa halted the swearing-in ceremony.
At Okahandja, Swapo won four seats, while the Okahandja Residents Progressive Association, the IPC and the Landless People’s Movement each won one seat.
At the Uis Village Council, Swapo and the United Democratic Front (UDF) both won two seats, while the IPC won one seat. However, UDF spokesperson Mabasen Narib has said the Uis councillors were sworn in on Tuesday.
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.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
