Electoral Commission of Namibia

Updated July 2005

The Electoral Commission of Namibia is established by the Electoral Act 24 of 1992 (Electoral Act 24 1992, 3-12). The amendment of 1998 was particularly important since it took significant steps to secure the independence of the ECN from the Executive, for the appointment of the ECN is no longer the simple prerogative of the President. Moreover, the Director of Elections was firmly subordinated to the ECN.

Composition

The Electoral Commission consists of a Chairperson and four Commissioners. The members of the ECN are appointed by the President from a shortlist compiled by a Selection Committee which consists of a judge nominated by the Chief Justice, a lawyer nominated by the Law Society and a nominee of the Ombudsman. Members of the ECN may lose their positions for incapacity or may be removed by the President for misconduct, with the approval of a resolution of the National Assembly (Electoral Act 24 1992, 5(1),(12), (21)).

Term of Office

Commissioners are appointed for five years, but may be be reappointed for further five year terms (Electoral Act 24 1992, 6).

Functions

The ECN has the following functions (Electoral Act 24 1992, 4(2)):

To direct, control and supervise elections fairly and impartially.
To register voters.
To compile and publish voters rolls.
To register political parties.

While the ECN has no explicit mandate engage in civic aand voter education, the ECN has interpreted its mandate to register voters as including these aspects (ECN undateda). Thus the ECN (undateda) said that the registration campaign for 2003 would utilise "mass media, and voter educators" to "[c]ultivate a culture of human rights, national reconciliation, political tolerance and participation in governance and electoral processes" and "[p]romote sound understanding of the process".

The ECN is not tasked with hearing electoral complaints or disputes, such functions being reserved for the High Court (Electoral Act 24 1992, 109).

Commissioners

The following are members of the ECN (ECN undatedb):

Victor L Tonchi, Chairperson
Notemba Tjipueja, Commissioner
Salmaan D Jacobs, Commissioner
Andrew Nghidinwa, Commissioner
Shafimana F Ueitele, Commissioner

Directorate of Elections

The Directorate of Elections functions as the secretariat of the ECN. The Directorate is headed by a Director of Elections who is appointed by the President on the recommendation of the ECN. The Director functions as the secretary and executive arm of the ECN (Electoral Act 24 1992, 11(1)).

Funding

The funding of the ECN is made from "funds appropriated by law for that purpose" (Electoral Act 24 1992). This presumably means a parliamentary appropriation.

References

ELECTORAL ACT 24 1992 (as amended 1994, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003).

ECN UNDATEDa "About the Electoral Commission of Namibia", [www] http://www.ecn.gov.na/About%20the%20ECN.htm [opens new window] (site in process of migration to new service provider, will be available again early November 2007).

ECN UNDATEDb "Electoral Commission of Namibia", [www] http://www.ecn.gov.na/ecn%20management.htm [opens new window] (site in process of migration to new service provider, will be available again early November 2007).

Official web site

ECN: http://www.ecn.gov.na [opens new window] (site in process of migration to new service provider, will be available again early November 2007)