Justicia Shipena
Swapo is leading the verified local authority results released so far, securing the most seats in the first 23 councils announced by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN). ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua released the results on Thursday.
With the first 23 local authorities, Swapo secured 78 seats, giving it representation in every council announced so far. The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) followed with 21 seats, while the United Democratic Front (UDF) won 14 seats. The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) took 9 seats, the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has 6 seats, and other parties and associations won seats in individual towns.
In Arandis, 1 533 votes were cast. Swapo took 4 seats, IPC 2, and UDF 1. In Berseba, where 381 votes were counted, Swapo secured 3 seats and PDM 2. Bethanie recorded 604 votes, giving Swapo 3 seats, IPC 1 and PDM 1.
In Bukalo, out of 380 votes, Swapo won 3 seats, NDP 1 and PDM 1. Gochas recorded 812 votes, where Swapo took 3 seats, LPM 2 and IPC 1.
Henties Bay recorded 2 226 votes. Swapo, RP, and IPC secured 2 seats each, while UDF took 1. AR, BCP, NEFC, PDM, UNP and UPM did not secure seats.
Kamanjab recorded 1 772 votes, with Swapo winning 3 seats and UDF 2. In Karasburg, where 1 551 votes were cast, Swapo secured 3 seats, LPM 3 and IPC 1.
Khorixas recorded 3 305 votes, giving UDF 4 seats and Swapo 3. Lüderitz had 4 187 votes, where Swapo won 4 seats, IPC 2 and PDM 1.
At Okahao, from 1 207 votes, Swapo secured 5 seats, while AR and IPC took 1 seat each. Okongo recorded 1 246 votes, giving Swapo 4 seats and IPC 1.
Oranjemund counted 2 567 votes. Swapo won 4 seats, IPC 2 and LPM 1. Oshikuku recorded 999 votes, where Swapo secured 5 seats, AR 1 and IPC 1.
In Otjinene, 2 168 votes were cast. Nudo took 3 seats, PDM 1 and Swapo 1. Outjo recorded 4 099 votes, giving the Outjo Residents Association 3 seats, Swapo 2, IPC 1 and UDF 1.
Ruacana recorded 1 112 votes, where Swapo secured 6 seats and IPC 1. Stampriet recorded 933 votes, giving Swapo 4 seats and IPC 1. PDM did not win a seat there.
Tses recorded 509 votes, awarding Swapo 3 seats and PDM 2. In Tsumeb, where 5 879 votes were recorded, Swapo won 3 seats. The Community Representatives Organisation of Tsumeb secured 2 seats, IPC 1 and AR 1. UDF, Nudo, PDM, PUC, BCP and UNP did not secure seats.
In Uis, 987 votes were cast. Swapo won 2 seats, UDF 2 and IPC 1. Usakos recorded 1 472 votes, where Swapo secured 3 seats, UDF 2, AR 1 and IPC 1.
Witvlei recorded 805 votes, awarding Swapo 2 seats, PDM 1, LPM 1 and UDF 1.
Swapo’s national support increased to 47.48%, based on ECN’s ballot data. This marks a rise from 39.85% in 2020, although it remains below the 72.60% share recorded in 2015.
IPC dropped to 15.01% from 21.20% in 2020. LPM’s support fell to 4.29%, down from 14.21% in 2020.
PDM decreased to 5.51%, down from 7.93% in 2020, but still higher than the 2015 share of 9.19%.
The Outjo Residents Association entered national tallies for the first time with 3.79%. The Community Representatives Organisation of Tsumeb also appeared for the first time, with 3.24%.
Nudo improved slightly to 3.04%, while Affirmative Repositioning dropped to 1.79% from 4.41% in 2020. The Republican Party increased its share to 1.43%.
Across the 23 local authorities, 567 rejected ballots were recorded.
Namibia has 59 local authorities, and the ECN is still to release verified results for the remaining 36.
