Most political parties are still failing to lawfully account for their funding and finances in a timely manner, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has indicated in its latest ‘Perspectives on Parliament’ bulletin.
The IPPR said in the bulletin issued on Wednesday, which is also when the national budget is being tabled, that it is pertinent to note that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is struggling to enforce the Electoral Act’s stipulations on political party finance.
It said many parties miss reporting deadlines and ignore key provisions of the law intended to ensure accountability.
Sections 139 to 142 of the Electoral Act deal with the declaration of assets and liabilities, records and audit, disclosure of foreign and domestic financing and other obligations by political parties.
Political parties funding for vote 11 received an amount of N.dollars 105 445 925 in 2020/2021 from the national budget, while in 2021/2022, they got an estimated amount of N.dollars 103 860 000.
However, the IPPR bulletin indicated that as the 2023/24 national budget is being discussed, it should not be forgotten that many of these parties are failing to lawfully and properly account for such monies.
“The issue of political party finance has long been a thorny one, as since the passing of the Electoral Act of 2014, compliance with the law has generally been underwhelming and problematic,” it said.
The report indicated that political parties and the ECN, as the mandated enforcement agency, are both at fault.
The IPPR last year approached the ECN for a status update on political parties’ compliance with the relevant sections of the Electoral Act of 2014, as well as what the ECN was doing to enforce compliance.
The electoral body indicated that nearly 50 per cent of political parties and about 23 per cent of organisations had by 25 November 2022 complied with rules requiring them to submit audited financial statements to the ECN for the 2021/22 financial year.
According to Article 139 of the Electoral Act (No.5 of 2014), all registered political parties are supposed to submit a declaration of assets and liabilities to the ECN within 21 days from the opening of Parliament.
The Electoral Commission further indicated that it has on several occasions engaged political parties and organisations, and also wrote several letters to them, emphasising the importance of such compliance.
The ECN gave them several deadlines, which however did not yield the desired results.
They also indicated that they have concluded that some political parties and organisations are having difficulties in complying with the relevant sections of the Electoral Act, which prompted them to have a workshop with the political parties and organisations, where these sections, their importance and the consequences of non-compliance were explained in detail.
This particular engagement, which took place in September last year, was aimed at equipping all registered political parties and organisations with requisite information in order to enable them to better understand and appreciate their obligations and responsibilities in conforming with the relevant legal provisions of the Electoral Act.
(NAMPA)
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
