The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has approved the participation of four political parties and two independent candidates in the by-election for the Katima Mulilo urban constituency.
ECN Public Relations and Communication Manager Lina Ndengu confirmed to Nampa on Monday that Popular Democratic Movement, Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), Swapo Party and the National Democratic Party have all nominated candidates for the position of Katima Mulilo urban constituency councillor. The two independent candidates are Kubwina Poniso Miller and Nkando Gibson Kabuna.
The by-election is scheduled to take place on 25 August 2021. It was prompted by the position left vacant by former Katima Mulilo Urban constituency councillor John Mukaya, who died in a car accident in May this year.
The election is being held in line with the Electoral Act of 2014, which allows for the holding of a by-election within 90 days of a vacancy arising.
IPC candidate Lynnette Mushabati Malipa told Nampa in an interview she used to attend council meetings in Katima Mulilo and saw how matters affecting the community were debated on by the ruling and opposition parties based on the principles of majority rule and not on their merit. As a result, solutions that were intended to address community issues were overlooked and it affected the development of the town and the region at large.
“In service delivery, we don’t look at the colours of the flag, we look at the leadership qualities. One thing I observed was that people brought politics into leadership instead of leadership into politics, and were more concerned about their political seats than the well-being of the citizens and made decisions based on their political emotions rather than guided by existing policies and legal frameworks,” said Malipa.
She added that opposition parties should not be seen as threats, but should be seen as helping with fixing mistakes because they are equally responsible to uphold the best interests of the citizens. She said she is thus contesting the position because she wants to put an end to the disunity and promote unity for the sake of developing the town and region.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
