Namibia going to the polls

2004-11-09 13:33

Windhoek - Namibia is getting ready to turn the page on an era with elections next week to choose a successor to President Sam Nujoma, a pivotal figure for the past five decades in this southern African country.

The 75-year-old liberation hero has been in power since Namibia won independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 after his South West Africa Peoples' Organisation (Swapo) led a decades-long armed struggle against white rule.

Nujoma's close ally and hand-picked successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, is expected to easily win the election which will be held on Monday and Tuesday across the vast country of 1.82 million people.

Pohamba, 69, is expected to continue governing the country the same way as Nujoma, who is to formally hand over power in March.

As lands minister, Pohamba has moved toward the expropriation of white commercial farmers although no land has been seized so far and he has reassured farm owners that just compensation will be paid.

About 900 000 eligible voters will go to the polls to choose a president from seven declared contenders and elect 72 members of parliament with nine parties fielding candidates. Swapo is expected to win the lion's share of seats.

'A foregone conclusion'

Namibians are taking the leadership change in stride, with some saying they will not turn out to vote because the outcome appears to be a foregone conclusion.

"In my view, the voting already took place in May when Swapo chose a successor for President Nujoma from three candidates," says Natangwe Haimbondi, who runs a mobile phone business in Windhoek.

"Swapo will win anyway. Why should I still go and vote?" he said.

At a party congress six months ago, Nujoma successfully manoeuvred to ensure that Pohamba be named Swapo's presidential candidate in the election, sidelining the increasingly popular former foreign minister Hidipo Hamutenya.

The two days of voting will be the fourth multi-party elections to be held since 1989 when the United Nations supervised a vote that paved the way to independence a year later.

The election campaign has been lacklustre, with the opposition, which currently holds 17 seats compared to 55 for Swapo in the legislature, complaining that Swapo has had an unfair advantage in media exposure.

Swapo received 200 minutes of free broadcast time from the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) compared to 30 minutes for the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance and 13 minutes for other parties, said Johan de Wall of the DTA.

The ruling party got all radio and television slots for the last 10 days leading up to election day, said De Waal.

"That is grossly unfair," he said.

- AFP