Africa-Press – Namibia. NEW Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) boss Elsie Nghikembua has promised to fully implement the provisions of the Electoral Act regulating political party finances to enhance accountability and transparency.
Nghikembua at a media briefing in Windhoek said the commission has observed “with concern” that political parties are not complying with regulations pertaining to political party funding as prescribed in the Electoral Act.
“The ECN has a legal obligation to ensure that these measures and requirements are implemented. Our perceived leniency in fully enforcing these measures has to come to an end, as the commission cannot allow this trend to continue,” she said.
The ECN is obliged by law to police how political parties receive finances to fund their activities, including political campaigns. Nghikembua’s statements last week come amid strong allegations that Swapo funded part of its political campaign with the proceeds of one of Namibia’s biggest corruption scandals ever, now known as the Fishrot scandal.
Auditing firm Deloitte, which carried out a forensic investigation into the use of fishing quotas by the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor), stated in a report dated June that N$6 million believed to be part of the proceeds of the Fishrot scandal was paid from an account of the law firm De Klerk, Horn & Coetzee Incorporated (DHC) to Swapo.
Since the new Electoral Act was introduced in 2014, the ECN has been criticised for failing to fully operationalise it, leaving loopholes for political parties and actors to exploit.
As a provision of the act, all political parties registered with the ECN are required to publicly disclose their financial statements, including donations from local and foreign donors.
Although these provisions were passed in 2014, regulations guiding the act’s implementation were gazetted for the first time towards the end of 2019. These regulations limit public donations to political parties to N$4 million for local, and N$2 million for foreign donors.
Public donations as defined in the act include money or anything which can be cashed or converted into money, intended to be used to further the interest of a political party or organisation, or the candidature of any other person who has been nominated or may be nominated as a candidate for any election.
If a political party or candidate contravenes the provisions regulating donations, the ECN is mandated to cancel the registration of such party. ‘NEGLECTING RESPONSIBILITY’
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) director Graham Hopwood last week said the ECN seems to have neglected its role in implementing these provisions while passing on such responsibility to institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
“At the moment you have a situation where the law is not being implemented … It is a very unacceptable situation,” he says.
Nghikembua last week said the perception that the ECN is being lenient with some political parties accused of contravening the act will now come to an end. She said the fact that some political parties are not complying “is defeating the purpose and undermining national efforts of fighting corruption…”
“Publications such as the 2021 African Peer Review Mechanism Country Self-Assessment report for Namibia and the IPPR in its democracy report have flagged the enforcement and compliance thereof by political parties as a concern, as most of the provisions relating to political party financing have not been fully adhered to since the promulgation of the Electoral Act in 2014,” she said.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY Nghikembua last week also shared her five-year strategy for transforming the ECN. As part of the strategy, she said the commission would review the existing framework on the electoral code of conduct, regulations and electoral forms. The commission’s ultimate goal is to operationalise its institutional, administrative, and financial independence, she said.
“As such, we will be examining all aspects as they pertain to the ECNs independence, both administrative, operational and financial, with the ultimate goal of repositioning the ECN correctly within the Namibian state structure in line with the Namibian Constitution,” Nghikembua said.
In addition, the commission will review its electoral management processes to strengthen voters’ registration management systems and collaboration with stakeholders.
“We would like to strengthen our civic education component in a way that civic education is conducted consistently, including during off-peak periods,” she said.
Nghikembua said the commission will undertake research aimed at uncovering causes of voter apathy experienced mostly during regional council and local authority elections, as well as by-elections.
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