Windhoek — The Swapo Party has appealed a court ruling on the provisional voters' roll for the Omuthiya local authority elections, objecting to Magnus Nangombe as an eligible voter.

The ruling party through its Regional Coordinator for the Oshikoto Region, Armas Amukwiyu, wrote a letter to the Ongandwa magistrate, Hope Ngara, stating that although Nangombe is a resident of Omuthiya township, he did not register as a voter within the prescribed time.

Amukwiyu claimed that Nangombe was registered on February 12, after registration was closed. "The registration of voters commenced on the 4th and ended on the 8th of February 2008 and to the best of our knowledge, there was no supplementary registration of voters made."

He noted that it is on this basis that the Swapo Party objects and believes that Nangombe does not qualify to vote in the Omuthiya local authority elections. In February, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) objected to 42 people while the Swapo Party objected to 12 voters. The Ondangwa magistrate sent out 54 notices to the voters under objection. However, only 34 availed themselves to the magistrate to defend their right to vote.

Out of the 34 people who availed themselves, only Nahole Petrus was found not to qualify as a voter in Omuthiya because he does not reside within the Omuthiya Constituency. The Ondangwa magistrate has sent the findings to the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) and it is now up to the ECN to recommend a date to the President so that the Head of State can set a new date for the Omuthiya local authority elections.

However, with the appeal by the Swapo Party regarding Nangombe, the magistrate will have to consult with the ECN to make a proper ruling regarding Nangombe. The issue of Nangombe is believed to be one of the reasons the ECN suspended its director Philemon Kanime and three other senior employees in early March.

The Omuthiya local authority elections were supposed to take place on February 29 but were indefinitely postponed due to objections from the Swapo Party and the RDP.

However, New Era has it on good authority that the ECN has already removed Nangombe's name from the list and he does not appear on the provisional voters' roll.