New Era

WINDHOEK â€" The Swapo Party Youth League on Saturday threw the ball back into the Rally for Democracy and Progress' court for any irregularities with the voters' roll.

A statement issued by the SPYL said the voters' roll has always been produced through the Department of Public Service Information Technology Management (DPSITM), which is headed by RDP President Hidipo Hamutenya's wife Nangula Hamutenya.

"Hence if the voters' roll is inaccurate, the husband of Mrs Nangula Shigwele Hamutenya, is better placed to explain," said SPYL Secretary, Dr Elijah Ngurare.

Due to this, Ngurare said, the RDP should be the last to talk about voters' roll irregularities.

The ECN in August requested Hamutenya's wife, who is undersecretary in the DPSITM to temporarily host the ECN's newly acquired server hardware on which to put its Voters Management System at the DPSITM facilities.

Director of the ECN, Moses Ndjarakana, in the letter in August said due to inadequate provision for physical security and lack of space where to place the machines prior to moving to ECN's new premises, the DPSITM should host the system until the end of the electoral process.

Ngurare said the ECN should investigate "their error in judgment" for storing the voter's management system at the DPSITM.

The RDP and other political parties, namely the DTA of Namibia, Swanu and Republican Party on Saturday also held a press conference to express their displeasure about some irregularities, among them the voters' roll.
The statement said the parties did not know which voters' roll to go by considering that there have been a number of versions.

"The voters' roll has raised questions. The ECN has presented to the Namibian public with four different figures: 1.3 million, 961Â 175, 1.1 million and finally 822Â 344. Now the question is which of these figures is the correct and final one, or which of these four should we trust," the parties wondered.

After casting his vote on Friday, RDP President Hidipo Hamutenya said polling had started without rectifying certain issues such as names of dead people and the under-aged that appeared on the voters' roll.

The youth league body called on the ECN to investigate other irregularities relating to an ECN official who reportedly stopped the voting process from starting for almost two hours at Otunetu polling station because of the absence of RDP agents and that an RDP official agent was permitted to write down names of voters at the voter's verification desk at the Herman Gmeiner polling station in the Khomas Region.

The SPYL also expressed concern over the early closure of some polling stations, which led to some potential voters being turned away. He said this was noticed at Van Ryn, Katutura Police and Rocky Crest polling stations.

Ngurare alleged that a certain ECN official at the Katutura Police Station, who was charged with issuing ballot papers, told voters to vote for a "certain" political party. And that another ECN official at Ekangolinene polling station in Etayi constituency stopped voters from being assisted by their preferred citizens and imposed himself to assist.

Other concerns are that some voters were only issued with the Presidential ballot papers at the United House, Tobias Hainyeko and Katutura polling stations, while the mobile team at Okahandja started at a different polling station from the one the pubic was informed.

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