Namibia: Electoral Court Dismisses Case About Windhoek City Council Election

10 November 2025
The Namibian (Windhoek)

The Electoral Court in Windhoek has dismissed an application by the Khomas Residents and Rate Payers Association to compel the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to register the association's candidates for the Windhoek City Council election on 26 November.

The court dismissed the association's application in a judgement delivered on Monday.

Deputy judge president Hannelie Prinsloo, who read the court's order, said the court found that it lacked jurisdiction to deal with the application.

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Judges Orben Sibeya and Beatrix de Jager agreed with the decision.

The association asked the court to order the ECN to accept the nomination of its candidates for the Windhoek City Council election on a physical form, instead of through an internet portal.

The association's secretary general, Shaun Gariseb, claimed the association was unable to get access to the internet portal used by the ECN for the nomination of election candidates on 16 October, when candidates had to be nominated.

The association asked the court to review and set aside an alleged decision of the EC not to accept the nomination of its city council election candidates on a physical form.

It also asked the court to declare the ECN's alleged decision to compel the nomination of election candidates through an internet portal as unlawful.

According to ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua, who made a sworn statement that was filed at the court, a list of election candidates could be submitted to the ECN either through its internet portal or physically, by being submitted to the returning officer for the Windhoek local authority election.

The association did not submit its list of candidates to the returning officer, though, but tried to hand it in at the ECN headquarters after the cut-off time of 11h00 on 16 October, Nghikembua says in her statement.

The ECN also argued that the association should have approached the Windhoek Electoral Tribunal, instead of the Electoral Court, with its case.

Prinsloo, Sibeya and De Jager heard oral arguments on the association's application on Thursday last week.

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