The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) will proceed with the recount of ballot papers of Ndonga Linena constituency regional councils election of 2020 despite calls from the Swapo party to cancel it and rather re-run the election.

ECN Chief Electoral Officer, Theo Mujoro, in a media statement on Tuesday, said the commission is committed to comply and execute the ruling by the Electoral Court for the recount of the votes and has thus finalised preparations for the recount exercise to take place at its Head Office at 10h00, on Thursday 23 September 2021.

This comes after Swapo party Secretary General Sophia Shaningwa on Monday during a briefing, criticised the commission for the way it conducted the election as it was declared null and void and which resulted in the Swapo candidate who won the election being declared null and void by the Electoral Court.

Shaningwa said even though her party was invited to participate in the recount of the votes, Swapo will not be part of the recount, as the party has refused to be used as a “tool for validating unlawful acts”.

However, Mujoro said the recount will go ahead with or without the presence of all concerned parties as they were invited on time to be present at the recount.

‘The Electoral Court on 13 September 2021 ruled that the recount should commence not later than 10 calendar days from the date of the order, and it should be concluded as soon as reasonable thereafter but not later than 20 calendar days from the date of the order. The recount exercise will be conducted as provided for in terms of section 105 of the Electoral Act No 5 of 2014,’ said Mujoro.

He added that the commission will ensure that all security mechanisms will be deployed during the recount process to ensure that the process is fully transparent so as to ensure the integrity of the outcome.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency