EDITORIAL: Have our leaders gone to sleep amid a looming crisis?
Is it arrogance, incompetence or just a blatant disregard for the electorate that – amid all the raging anger and legitimate questions – the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has completely gone quiet?
Yesterday, ECN, on its own initiative, invited all political parties to its headquarters for a briefing on the scandalous manner in which Wednesday’s general election was conducted, only to blank those who showed up. The nation, on the other hand, has been thrust into complete darkness – literally and figuratively – as far as the necessary processes are concerned.
ECN is not a personal fiefdom of Elsie Nghikembua and her gang of commissioners, who have shown nothing but disdain and contempt for the people of this country. The last communication seen from ECN was them directing polling officials on Wednesday night not to close polling stations at 21:00, as was originally planned. The directive did not indicate what time the stations may close – leaving frustrated voters wondering whether voting had been extended to a second day.
The adversarial attitude of ECN can only be best described as that of people who have no iota of respect for the institution they are entrusted to lead, let alone understand its mandate and responsibility towards the people of Namibia.
Press conferences called by ECN are called off willy-nilly at eleventh hour without explanation, like on Wednesday when Petrus Shaama ended up only granting an interview to NBC while shutting out all other media houses. Speaking of silence, where is President Nangolo Mbumba in all this when the nation needs that calming fatherly voice?
Yesterday, ECN, on its own initiative, invited all political parties to its headquarters for a briefing on the scandalous manner in which Wednesday’s general election was conducted, only to blank those who showed up. The nation, on the other hand, has been thrust into complete darkness – literally and figuratively – as far as the necessary processes are concerned.
ECN is not a personal fiefdom of Elsie Nghikembua and her gang of commissioners, who have shown nothing but disdain and contempt for the people of this country. The last communication seen from ECN was them directing polling officials on Wednesday night not to close polling stations at 21:00, as was originally planned. The directive did not indicate what time the stations may close – leaving frustrated voters wondering whether voting had been extended to a second day.
The adversarial attitude of ECN can only be best described as that of people who have no iota of respect for the institution they are entrusted to lead, let alone understand its mandate and responsibility towards the people of Namibia.
Press conferences called by ECN are called off willy-nilly at eleventh hour without explanation, like on Wednesday when Petrus Shaama ended up only granting an interview to NBC while shutting out all other media houses. Speaking of silence, where is President Nangolo Mbumba in all this when the nation needs that calming fatherly voice?
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