By Daniel Itai.
Windhoek, Namibia. – (News of The South) – The Namibian Supreme Court yesterday set January 17, 2020 as the date on which it will hear the electoral challenge of the 30 November Presidential results.
Independent presidential candidate Panduleni Itula, Republican Party (RP) president Henk Mudge, Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEEF) president Epafrans Mukwiilongo, All People’s Party (APP) president Ignatius Shixwameni and Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) president Mike Kavekotora, are all challenging the Presidential results which saw Hage Geingob winning the election with 56 percent.
The five plaintiffs are basing their attack on the conduct of the Presidential election on the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN)’s decision to make use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and are arguing that the Electoral Act required that the ECN make use of EVMs accompanied by a verifiable paper trail.
In his affidavit, Itula cited the recent revelation by the ECN that EVMs booked out for the ruling Swapo Party Elders Council congress in 2017 had gone missing.
“Since July 2017 up to the presidential election in 2019 there has been ample opportunity for gaining intimate knowledge of the machines’ hardware and software.
The risk of discovering means of tampering with the EVMs is real, as lawyers and politicians pointed out immediately when the news first broke in October 2019.
They cautioned that the election could be rigged and the integrity of its outcome would become questionable. Yet, the self-same models of EVMs were used one month later during the 2019 elections,” said Itula.
The respondents in the case are the President, the minister of Urban and Rural Development, the Attorney General, the Electoral Commission and its chairperson, Geingob in his capacity as Swapo candidate in the election, and the rest of the political parties and their leaders that participated in this year’s elections.
Comments
About Author
