PREVIEW
As the country prepares to hold a general election, its main opposition party has objected to the South African company hired to print the ballots
Namibia’s main opposition has lodged a petition protesting against the Electoral Commission’s decision to award a contract to Ren-Form to design, print and deliver ballot papers to be used in Namibia’s elections in November.
The South African firm has supplied ballot papers and other election materials to dozens of countries but is under investigation by Zimbabwe’s Anti-Corruption Commission for alleged fraudulent conduct during that country’s elections.
Over 100 members of the Popular Democratic Movement, the main opposition party in parliament, marched to the Electoral Commission to present the petition demanding that the agreement with Ren-Form be cancelled. Ren-Form’s contract to provide all materials for the 27 November polls is believed to be worth US$60 million.
Ren-Form is under investigation in Harare having been accused of inflating prices for a similar contract allegedly worth $100m ahead of Zimbabwe’s general elections last August. The company has also denied links with controversial Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo who has traded off his relationship with President Emmerson Mnangagwa (AC Vol 65 No 12, Elon Musk’s Harare network & Vol 57 No 14, A close political race gets angrier).
Pundits expect the November polls – the first since the death of President Hage Geingob in February – to be closely fought as the ruling SWAPO Party of Namibia (SWAPO) struggles following a series of recent corruption scandals (AC Vol 65 No 10, SWAPO's prospects lag behind economy).
Panduleni Itula, who finished second with 29% at the 2019 presidential elections, is expected to focus his campaign on Namibia’s high unemployment and promises of a tougher crackdown on government corruption and jobs for political insiders.
Itula’s Independent Patriots for Change are likely to be the main gainers in November and will hope to build a base in Windhoek and Walvis Bay, both of which they took from SWAPO in the 2020 local elections.
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