Allexer Namundjembo
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) says its head office staff were not legally mandated to accept official nomination forms for the upcoming regional and local authority elections.
This comes as claims by the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) that the commission blocked its participation in several local authority elections.
LPM will not contest in several southern towns, including Aranos, Berseba, Bethanie, Gibeon, Rehoboth, Kalkrand, Lüderitz, Tses and Stampriet, as well as Henties Bay, Arandis, and Uis in the Erongo Region.
Reports show that the party will lose out on 21 local authority seats in the affected areas.
However, LPM will still participate in Mariental, Keetmanshoop, Karasburg, Koës, Aroab, Gochas, Oranjemund and Maltahöhe, bringing its total contests to 25 out of 59 local authorities.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the ECN dismissed the allegations as unfounded and malicious, saying they were a deliberate attempt to undermine the integrity of the electoral process.
The commission’s chief executive officer, Peter Shaama, maintained that all nominations were processed in line with the Electoral Act and established procedures.
Shaama explained that the Political Party and Candidate Management (PPCM) system, introduced in 2024, was designed to help political parties and independent candidates submit nominations electronically and reduce paperwork.
He said the system worked efficiently and successfully processed nominations from all other political parties, organisations and independent candidates contesting the 2025 elections.
Nominations opened on 26 September 2025 and closed at 11h00 on 16 October 2025.
ECN said the deadline was extended until 15h00 on 17 October to allow parties to correct submission errors.
Shaama stated that nomination lists had to be submitted to the returning officers in each local authority area, while the ECN head office functioned only as a help desk for technical or procedural assistance.
“Recognising the time-sensitive nature of rectifying identified errors, the commission granted an extension to all affected parties, including the LPM. During this period, the LPM corrected errors in 18 out of 20 local authorities,” Shaama said.
