ECN must confirm data clean-up figure

NSHR is calling upon the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to categorically and unambiguously publish the exact number of those registered voters who have been recently removed from the preliminary voters’ register. Media reports published conflicting figures last week about what ECN Chairperson Victor Tonchi might have said about the latest number of eligible voters currently on ECN’s provisional voters’ register.

On 16 October 2009 under a report entitled “ECN Withdraws Namprint Tender”, the Statefunded New Era newspaper cited Tonchi as having said a day previously that after a “data clean-up” the latest figure of eligible voters now stood at 1 000 163. However, under a report entitled “Thousands of Voters Fall off the Preliminary Roll”, the independent English daily, The Namibian, cited Tonchi as putting the latest number of eligible voters at 1 163 000.

Prior to the above media reports, ECN was widely reported as putting the total number of eligible registered voters at 1 300 500. ECN was also widely reported as having said that an additional 290 000 voters had registered inside the country, with more than 900 in other countries, following the last supplementary voter registration drive which ended on 30 September 2009.

NSHR also calls upon ECN to transparently publish the lists of those voters who have now been removed from the preliminary voters’ register as well as the exact reasons for their removal.

Meanwhile, cursory and sporadic inspection of the Provisional Voters’ Register prepared and published by ECN in terms of Section 21 of the Electoral Act 1992 (Act 24 of 1992), as amended, reveals gross inaccuracies and glaringly preposterous inclusions of even deceased persons as eligible voters.

“This to us suggests that the removal of the between 150 000 and 300 000, depending on whose figures one looks at, was motivated by undisclosed extraordinary reasons. Hence, we demand extreme ECN transparency regarding such apparent extraordinary data clean up,” said NSHR spokesperson Steven Mvula.

NSHR has also found it to be mind-boggling that deceased prominent members of our society, such as Lazarus Kandara, National Assembly Speaker Mosé Penaani Tjitendero, well-known veterinarian Dr. Otto Johannes Hübschle, the reverend Titus Heita and Swapo Party MP Ella Ndatega Kamanya, to mention but a few, feature on ECN’s latest provisional list of eligible voters.

Moreover, in terms of Section 31 of the Electoral Act 1992 (Act 24 of 1992), as amended, the Director of Elections must ensure that the register of death is received by him or her not later than the 15th day of each month. This then suggests that the provisions of Section 31 have not been complied with for months if not years.

“Similarly, we cannot understand the circumstances under which this nation’s liberation icon Herman Toivo ya Toivo and Police Deputy Commissioner Hophni Hamufungu as well as National Youth Council Chairperson Asser Mandela Kapere could have had no sufficient national identity documents, let alone a driver’s license, such that they could be sworn in by someone,” said Mvula.

In light of the above, NSHR calls upon ECN to thoroughly scrutinize the current Provisional Voters’ Register to ensure that an appropriate data clean up has been achieved.