News and Information

November 2004: UGLY ALLEGATIONS OF VOTING BUYING IN CAPRIVI
November 17, 2004
NSHR elections observers in the Caprivi Region reported that SWAPO candidate for the Sibbinda Constituency a certain Felix Mukupi dished out on two different occasions large quantities of money to party agents, police officers and Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) officials alike, in apparent attempt to rig the elections in the said constituency. In one case, the incident occurred on November 16 2004 at Mobile voting station no.301 at the Malundu Primary School, some 55 kilometers south of Katima Mulilo, the regional capital.

“When a white reporter questioned as to whether the money was to buy votes, Mukupi over heard this and said to the unidentified reporter: ‘You white people should go back to America where you came from’. When the reporter responded that he was coming from Windhoek and not from America, Mukupi threatened he would f…ck up the reporter when he (Mukupi) comes to Windhoek”, said a Caprivi-based NSHR elections observer on condition of anonymity.

The second incident occurred also on November 16 2004 at around lunchtime at Kanono Secondary School, some 60 kilometers south of Katima Mulilo. In this case, in addition to ECN officials and Opposition DTA party agents, again Mukupi gave money to an unidentified member of the Special Field Force (SFF) member on duty. Said the NSHR observer:

“When I returned to the voting station at around 20h15, I discovered that the voting station was turned into a dancing and drinking party. The music came from a radio brought into the station by DTA party agent Emmanuel Samati. A youthful SWAPO Party agent and mobilizer started screaming to me saying inter alia ‘It is Government policy that people should vote’”.

After the NSHR observer produced his ECN-issued accreditation credentials the presiding officer, a certain Irene, got embarrassed and quickly ‘called’ the drinking and dancing party ‘to order’ by asking: ‘Who brought in the radio here?’ Mr. Samati allegedly responded by saying ‘It is me. If I am wrong, forgive me’.

“While the presiding officer was still calling the party to order over the embarrassing incident, Mr. Gabriel Mukena Mulele, another DTA party agent, admitted that he was drunk. At this stage the equally embarrassed SFF member asked Mulele: ‘So you are drunk. Where did you get the beer? Because I did not see beers here’”, added the NSHR observer.

On several occasions, since the voter education process started, NSHR has been on the record expressing concern over threatened election integrity in the current process.


Source: www.nshr.org.na


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