Statement by the speaker of the national assembly Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, delivered on 29 April 2025 in Windhoek, Namibia.
Honourable chairperson of the whole house committee; honourable members;
I rise before this august House to present the budget for the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for the 2025/2026 financial year. During the 2024/2025 financial year, ECN was allocated an appropriation amount of six hundred and thirty-seven million, nine hundred and eighty-three thousand Namibian dollars (N$637 983 000).
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The total expenditure for the 2024/2025 financial year was six hundred and thirty-four million, eighty-five thousand and sixteen Namibia dollars (N$634 085 016), representing an execution rate of 99.4%.
Honourable members, the funds allocated to vote in the previous financial year were committed to three key programmes namely: elections administration, voter and civic education, and policy coordination and support services. Out of that total appropriation amount, seventy-two million, eighty-four thousand, seven hundred and eighty-five Namibia dollars (N$72 084 785) has been allocated for personnel expenditure, and five hundred and sixty-five million, eight hundred and ninety-eight thousand, two hundred and fifteen Namibia dollars (N$565 898 215) was allocated for non-personnel expenditure, covering the day-to-day business and electoral operations of the commission, throughout all three phases of the electoral cycle (i.e. pre-election phase, election phase and post-election phase).
Funds allocated for personnel expenditure mainly went to payment of salaries and other allowances of ECN staff members, while funds allocated for non-personnel expenditure were primarily spent on voters registration and voter verification, equipment, printing and advertisement, rental of regional offices for ECN regional staff, conduct of the 2024 general registration of voters and presidential and National Assembly elections both locally and at all 35 Namibian diplomatic missions abroad, as well as payment of election officials, including leasing of vehicles from members of the public.
Honourable chairperson of the whole house committee, honourable members, let me now turn to the ECN's budgetary request for the 2025/2026 financial year, and the specific programmes to be carried out during this financial year.
Honourable members, as you might be aware, there are regional councils and local authorities elections scheduled for the 2025/26 financial year. For the 2025/2026 financial year, ECN has been allocated a total amount of six hundred and forty-seven million, eight hundred and thirteen thousand Namibia dollars (N$647 813 000). Out of this amount, sixty-nine million, three hundred and forty-eight thousand Namibia dollars (N$69 348 000) is for personnel expenditure, while five hundred and seventy-eight million, four hundred and sixty-five thousand Namibia dollars (N$578 465, 000) is for non-personnel expenditure to cater for the day-to-day business and electoral operations of the commission.
The ECN has two programmes under its budget, namely: elections administration and voter and civic education, which are the cornerstone of the electoral operations. The two programmes are complemented by the programme policy coordination and support services which provides for administrative and policy support to the electoral operations.
Programme 01: Elections Administration
An amount of four hundred and ninety-three million, nine hundred and three thousand Namibia dollars (N$493 903 000) has been allocated for this programme to cover non-personnel expenditure. Through this programme, the ECN will conduct elections and facilitate the participation of voters in elections. In terms of the regional councils act, the ECN is required to conduct a by-election within three months of a vacancy occurring.
As a standard, in any given year, ECN makes contingency provision for at least three by-elections which might be necessitated by vacancies that might arise in regional councils. As you are aware, there are currently five vacancies at Grootfontein, Otjiwarongo, Kamanjab, Sesfontein and Kabbe South constituencies as a result of the resignation of the former councillors who subsequently took up membership of this august house.
In compliance with the legal provisions, the ECN already commenced preparations to conduct these by-elections. Training of registration officials and the supplementary registration of voters was conducted in all five constituencies on 5 to 8 and 10 to 12 April 2025, respectively, in accordance with the electoral schedule. Holding five by-elections and in a year where regular elections are also scheduled to take place (regional and local authorities) is expected to exert pressure on the ECN resources.
As a part of the preparations for the 2025 regional council and local authority elections, the commission will conduct country-wide voter education campaigns and supplementary registration of voters in all regions, constituencies and local authorities. In order to ensure greater operational efficiency in the conduct of the voter registration processes, the commission will deploy additional teams to ensure a maximum reach of all eligible voters during the supplementary registration of voters. For this reason, procurement of additional mobile voters registration kits and accessories will be required during the current financial year.
Honourable members, one of the recurring challenges during the conduct of any national elections remains the ability to secure adequate transport for the deployment of teams. Hence, the budget makes provision for the procurement of thirty-six vehicles to supplement its fleet. This is to ensure efficient conduct of the voter and civic education programmes, as well as electoral activities of the commission in all regions, constituencies and local authorities.
The ECN will recruit, train and deploy approximately seventeen thousand election officials, including additional voter education teams for the conduct of the supplementary registration of voters and subsequent polling process under the -
Programme 2: Voter and Civic Education
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An amount of twenty-five million, six hundred and forty-three thousand Namibia dollars (N$25 643 000) is being requested for this programme to ensure timely and effective information dissemination. Through this programme, the ECN will conduct civic and voter education as part of the voter awareness campaign in the build-up to the 2025 supplementary registration for the regional and local authorities elections.
To ensure inclusiveness and access to information for all, information materials will be reproduced in accessible formats for persons with disabilities such as braille, audio and sign language.
Programme 3: Policy Coordination, Supervision and Support Services
An amount of fifty-eight million, nine hundred and nineteen thousand Namibia dollars (N$58 919 000) is proposed for this programme. This amount will cater for the procurement of goods and services which include property and equipment rental, utilities, management and maintenance of ECN fleet, licence renewals, commission and boards, electoral reports and membership fees to regional and international electoral forums.
The ECN requests this august house to support the motivation and approve the budget of six hundred and forty-seven million, eight hundred and thirteen thousand Namibia dollars (N$647 813 000) for the electoral commission of Namibia for the 2025/2026 financial year.
I put the ECN's request forth for the consideration of this august House.
Thank you.
