The Electoral Commission of Namibia has nominated and cleared five candidates to vie for the councillor position in the Opuwo Rural Constituency by-election set for 02 July this year.

Speaking to Nampa on Monday, ECN election supervisor for the Opuwo Rural Constituency Mike Nganjone said the nomination exercise was conducted smoothly within two days and all five aspirants were nominated on political party tickets.

“No independent candidates have shown interest in this year’s by-election, we only registered five and those are the final candidates that will stand in those elections,” stated Nganjone.

The duly nominated candidates include National Unity Democratic Organisation’s (Nudo) Hariki Heinze Maundu, Western Muharukua of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Rally for Democracy (RDP)’s Kaiho Rikambura, Kazepanda Tjambiru of the Swapo Party and Howards Kaihepere of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC).

Meanwhile, Nganjone said the voters education exercise is still ongoing, noting that officials will be in the field until the final day of elections with the main focus areas on educating voters on how to register to vote, how to complete ballot papers – a process he described as imperative in order for voters to know how their votes contribute to the final result in an election.

During the supplementary registration of voters’ exercise, ECN registered 1 203 voters for the Opuwo Rural Constituency.

Nganjone said more than 7 000 people are expected to cast their votes on 02 July 2021.

He also stated that ECN together with the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the Namibian Police Force will make sure that COVID-19 prevention measures are adhered to during the whole process.

The Opuwo Rural Constituency councillor vacancy came about after the death of PDM’s councillor, Cornelius Uaurikua Kakuva, in April 2021.

Source: Namibia Press Agency