Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) on Friday hosted a stakeholder engagement on the ECN’s five-year strategic plan which delved into changes that will be made to the commission’s affairs as well as improving election processes in the country.
From 11 to 14 October 2021, the ECN undertook a strategic retreat to review its key strategic priorities in preparation for the 2024 General Registration of Voters (GRV), the Presidential and National Assembly elections, and the 2025 Regional Councils and Local Authority elections. Following the retreat, a new draft strategic plan was developed for the ECN and shared with all its key stakeholders.
Speaking at the review of the draft plan, ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua stated that the session brought together key players in the electoral process and is aimed at soliciting recommendations on how the ECN should operate to create value and improve the administration of elections for the next five years.
She added that the strategic plan focuses on the Legislative Amendments to the Electoral Act (Act No 5 of 2014), Institutional Independence to enhance operational efficiency, Good Corporate Governance, Improved Electoral Management Processes and Security Management.
The plan will also focus on Effective Institutional Planning, Effective Public Outreach Programmes, Effective Administration and Communication, Digital Innovation, as well as Research, Publications and Data Protection.
The ECN also highlighted challenges it experienced implementing 2017/2018-2021/2022 strategic objectives and noted that the commission experienced an inability to achieve and operationalize the full independence of the ECN.
The ECN outlined that provisions of the Constitution of Namibia do not provide a full interpretation of the ECN’s independence as it does with other arms of government like the Judiciary.
In addition to this, it was noted that the Electoral Act has several legislative grey areas, namely a lack of timelines on the political campaign period in the Electoral Act.
It was also aired that applications for registering political parties, organisations and associations submitted during election years put pressure on administrative processes and human resources capacity.
Unclear verification processes at the Collation Centre and the high probability of internet hackings were also noted down as challenges the commission experienced. The ECN provided plans and mitigating strategies on how to remedy these problems.
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