Namibia ruling party set for easy win

Amid reports that last Sunday’s landmark presidential polls in Tunisia are headed for a second round, the 2014 African electoral calendar continued to unfold inexorably last week, with reportedly smooth elections in Namibia on Friday.

The just concluded parliamentary and presidential elections in the southern African nation of 2.3 million are widely expected to deliver a comfortable win for the ruling party, the South West African People’s Organisation (Swapo).

In the meantime, Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF will hold its national congress on Sunday.

The major event in the Mugabe succession battle comes hot on the heels of the barring last week of beleaguered Vice-President Joice Mujuru from contesting a top seat in the party’s central committee, a top decision-making body.

Back to Namibia, with the former liberation movement that led the country to independence in 1990 perceived as the nation and the nation as Swapo, observers say the ruling party has proved extremely difficult for the fledgling Namibian opposition to compete with.

WINNING WITH A MAJORITY

Remarkably, since independence Swapo has won every election with either a two-thirds majority or even 70 per cent of the vote.

Incumbent President Hifikepunye Pohamba, has served two terms and is barred by the constitution from running again and will gracefully bow out, following the example of his predecessor, founding president Sam Nujoma.

To the credit of its leaders, the party has a reasonably good track record, and Namibia’s economy is among the healthiest on the continent.

While benefiting from major diamond and uranium reserves, as well as revenue from tourists, the country also enjoys enviable political stability.

Despite this, there is a perceived huge gap between the haves and the have-nots.

ECONOMIC EMANCIPATION

Consequently, there have been reports that support for Swapo has been dwindling. “Our leadership is old,” Swapo Youth League spokesman Job Shipululo Amupanda recently said, pointing out that 60 per cent of Namibians are young people.

“We are governed by old people who do not understand our problems. They’re just eager to enrich themselves.”

Such perceptions notwithstanding, Swapo’s presidential candidate, current prime minister Hage Geingob, 73, is expected to romp to an easy win.

Evidently very upbeat, he has vowed that if he wins he will bring about “economic emancipation”.

“You are voting for a change, but change within Swapo,” he reportedly said on Friday.