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| Namibian President-elect, Hage Geingob |
By Jerry Omondi, Windhoek NAMIBIA
Namibian President Hage Geingob’s election
win faces a challenge in court, lodged by an independent candidate.
Panduleni
Itula, filed the petition on Wednesday, saying that the November 27 vote was
marred by electoral irregularities.
In a
126-page affidavit, Itula has urged the Namibia Supreme Court to annul the
result of the presidential election, pointing out especially to problems in the
use of electronic voting machines.
Ahead of
the vote, a Namibian court on November 25 dismissed a case seeking to prevent
the use of electronic voting machines.
Magistrate,
Uaatjo Uanivi, ruled that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to forbid the
electoral commission from using the voting machines.
Following
his win in the election, President Geingob of the ruling SWAPO party is
scheduled to be sworn in to a new term on March 21 next year. The 78-year-old
secured victory with 56 percent of the votes.
Itula,
who also a SWAPO member, contested as independent candidate and scored 30% of
the vote.
The ruling SWAPO party has been shaken by corruption allegations linked to fishing quotas that brought two cabinet ministers to resign. SWAPO, in power since independence from South Africa in 1990, lost its strategic two-thirds majority in parliament, dropping from 77 seats to 63 seats.
Namibia is a resource-rich southern African nation with a population of 2.4 million people. Some 1.3 million voters were registered for election and turnout was 60%. - Africa
The ruling SWAPO party has been shaken by corruption allegations linked to fishing quotas that brought two cabinet ministers to resign. SWAPO, in power since independence from South Africa in 1990, lost its strategic two-thirds majority in parliament, dropping from 77 seats to 63 seats.
Namibia is a resource-rich southern African nation with a population of 2.4 million people. Some 1.3 million voters were registered for election and turnout was 60%. - Africa
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