The Independent Patriots for Change candidate, Louisa Kativa, has been duly elected as the Swakopmund Constituency Councillor at the just ended Swakopmund by-election.
The results which were announced during the early morning hours of Saturday by Electoral Commission of Namibia Returning Officer, Amos Nguaiko, indicated that Kativa emerged victorious with a total of 3 625 votes.
In an interview with the media after the results were announced, Kativa, who is the current mayor of Swakopmund, expressed gratitude to her party members, voters and party leader, Dr Panduleni Itula, for entrusting her with the position.
“I am very grateful to my party president for opening our eyes as youth by teaching us that Namibia is all we have, it is not for sale and that we should save it. I am going to go into this new office with the theme, ‘Love, Care and Faith’. The door will be open to all residents of Swakopmund and everyone is welcome,” she noted.
Kativa expressed that she will not be able to run the office alone and called on residents to hold hands with her in order to ensure that the town is lifted to greater heights.
Queried on what her first order of business in office will be, Kativa said she did not want to make promises just yet as she will only be able to determine what needs to be done once she occupies her new role.
The newly elected constituency councillor added that she will be turning in her resignation as the town’s mayor as soon as she can.
A total of 9 918 voters cast their votes out of the 37 406 voters registered at the town. The rejected ballots amounted to 56.
Nguaiko told the media that although voter turnout was poor (26.5 per cent) compared to the 20 000 voters recorded last year, he was satisfied with the overall process.
“I believe that the elections were free and fair. I would also like to thank all the political parties who acted accordingly from beginning to end, and did not go against the code of conduct, from their campaigns up until the elections,” he said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
